Esther 2:20

2:20 Esther was still not divulging her lineage or her people, ¹  just as Mordecai had instructed her. ²  Esther continued to do whatever Mordecai said, just as she had done when he was raising her.

Esther 3:6

3:6 But the thought of striking out against ³  Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed ⁴  of the identity of Mordecai’s people. ⁵  So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai) ⁶  who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Esther 4:4

4:4 When Esther’s female attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her about Mordecai’s behavior, ⁷  the queen was overcome with anguish. Although she sent garments for Mordecai to put on so that he could remove his sackcloth, he would not accept them.

Esther 4:7-8

4:7 Then Mordecai related to him everything that had happened to him, even the specific amount of money that Haman had offered to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed. 4:8 He also gave him a written copy of the law that had been disseminated ⁸  in Susa for their destruction so that he could show it to Esther and talk to her about it. He also gave instructions that she should go to the king to implore him and petition him on behalf of her people.

Esther 6:2

6:2 it was found written that Mordecai had disclosed that Bigthana ⁹  and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, had plotted to assassinate ¹⁰  King Ahasuerus.

Esther 8:1

The King Acts to Protect the Jews

8:1 On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate ¹¹  of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her.

¹ sn That Esther was able so effectively to conceal her Jewish heritage suggests that she was not consistently observing Jewish dietary and religious requirements. As C. A. Moore observes, “In order for Esther to have concealed her ethnic and religious identity…in the harem, she must have eaten…, dressed, and lived like a Persian rather than an observant Jewess” (Esther [AB], 28.) In this regard her public behavior stands in contrast to that of Daniel, for example.

² tc The LXX adds the words “to fear God.”

³ tn Heb “to send a hand against”; KJV, NRSV “to lay hands on.”

⁴ tn Heb “they had related to him.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a passive construction.

⁵ tc The entire first half of the verse is not included in the LXX.

⁶ tc This parenthetical phrase is not included in the LXX. Some scholars emend the MT reading עַם (’am, “people”) to עִם (’im, “with”), arguing that the phrase is awkwardly placed and syntactically inappropriate. While there is some truth to their complaint, the MT makes sufficient sense to be acceptable here, and is followed by most English versions.

⁵ tn The words “about Mordecai’s behavior” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in translation for the sake of clarity. Cf. NIV, NLT “about Mordecai”; TEV, CEV “what Mordecai was doing.”

⁷ tn Heb “given” (so KJV); NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “issued”; NIV “published”; NAB “promulgated.”

⁹ tn This individual is referred to as “Bigthan,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 2:21.

¹⁰ tn Heb “to send a hand against”; NASB “had sought to lay hands on.”

¹¹ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV; also in vv. 2, 7). Cf. TEV “all the property.”