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 4:7

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.

Esther 5:11

5:11 Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth, ³  his many sons, ⁴  and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king’s other officials and servants.

Esther 6:2

6:2 it was found written that Mordecai had disclosed that Bigthana ⁵  and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, had plotted to assassinate ⁶  King Ahasuerus.

Esther 6:9-10

6:9 Then let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king’s noble officials. Let him ⁷  then clothe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him lead him about through the plaza of the city on the horse, calling ⁸  before him, ‘So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!’”

6:10 The king then said to Haman, “Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just indicated to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Don’t neglect ⁹  a single thing of all that you have said.”

Esther 6:13

6:13 Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men, ¹⁰  along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish, ¹¹  you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”

Esther 7:9

7:9 Harbona, ¹²  one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is seventy-five feet ¹³  high.”

The king said, “Hang him on it!”

Esther 8:11

8:11 The king thereby allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and to stand up for themselves – to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any army of whatever people or province that should become their adversaries, including their women and children, ¹⁴  and to confiscate their property.

Esther 9:22

9:22 as the time when the Jews gave themselves rest from their enemies – the month when their trouble was turned to happiness and their mourning to a holiday. These were to be days of banqueting, happiness, sending gifts to one another, and providing for the poor.

Esther 9:31

9:31 to establish these days of Purim in their proper times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established, and just as they had established both for themselves and their descendants, matters pertaining to fasting and lamentation.

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 “the glory of his riches” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “the splendor of his riches.”

⁴ sn According to Esth 9:10 Haman had ten sons.

⁵ tn This individual is referred to as “Bigthan,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 2:21.

⁶ tn Heb “to send a hand against”; NASB “had sought to lay hands on.”

⁷ tc The present translation reads with the LXX וְהִלְבִּישׁוֹ (vÿhilbisho, “and he will clothe him”) rather than the reading of the MT וְהִלְבִּישׁוּ (vÿhilbishu, “and they will clothe”). The reading of the LXX is also followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV, and NLT. Likewise, the later verbs in this verse (“cause him to ride” and “call”) are better taken as singulars rather than plurals.

⁸ tn Heb “and let them call” (see the previous note).

⁹ tn Heb “do not let fall”; NASB “do not fall short.”

¹¹ tc Part of the Greek tradition and the Syriac Peshitta understand this word as “friends,” probably reading the Hebrew term רֲכָמָיו (rakhamayv, “his friends”) rather than the reading of the MT חֲכָמָיו (hakhamayv, “his wise men”). Cf. NLT “all his friends”; the two readings appear to be conflated by TEV as “those wise friends of his.”

¹² tn Heb “from the seed of the Jews”; KJV, ASV similar.

¹³ sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.

¹⁴ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.

¹⁵ tn Heb “children and women.” As in 3:13, the translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.