Esther 3:11

3:11 The king replied to Haman, “Keep your money, ¹  and do with those people whatever you wish.” ² 

Esther 3:10

3:10 So the king removed his signet ring ³  from his hand and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, who was hostile toward the Jews.

Esther 3:2

3:2 As a result, ⁴  all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate were bowing and paying homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded. However, Mordecai did not bow, ⁵  nor did he pay him homage.

Esther 3:4

3:4 And after they had spoken to him day after day ⁶  without his paying any attention to them, they informed Haman to see whether this attitude on Mordecai’s part would be permitted. ⁷  Furthermore, he had disclosed to them that he was a Jew. ⁸ 

Esther 6:10

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.”

¹ tn Heb “the silver is given to you”; NRSV “the money is given to you”; CEV “You can keep their money.” C. A. Moore (Esther [AB], 40) understands these words somewhat differently, taking them to imply acceptance of the money on Xerxes’ part. He translates, “Well, it’s your money.”

² tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes”; NASB “do with them as you please.”

³ sn Possessing the king’s signet ring would enable Haman to act with full royal authority. The king’s ring would be used to impress the royal seal on edicts, making them as binding as if the king himself had enacted them.

⁵ tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

⁶ sn Mordecai did not bow. The reason for Mordecai’s refusal to bow before Haman is not clearly stated here. Certainly the Jews did not refuse to bow as a matter of principle, as though such an action somehow violated the second command of the Decalogue. Many biblical texts bear witness to their practice of falling prostrate before people of power and influence (e.g., 1 Sam 24:8; 2 Sam 14:4; 1 Kgs 1:16). Perhaps the issue here was that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, a people who had attacked Israel in an earlier age (see Exod 17:8-16; 1 Sam 15:17-20; Deut 25:17-19).

⁷ sn Mordecai’s position in the service of the king brought him into regular contact with these royal officials. Because of this association the officials would have found ample opportunity to complain of Mordecai’s refusal to honor Haman by bowing down before him.

⁸ tn Heb “Will the matters of Mordecai stand?”; NASB “to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand.”

⁹ sn This disclosure of Jewish identity is a reversal of the practice mentioned in 1:10, 20.

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