Esther 3:13

3:13 Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that ¹  they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, ²  on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day ³  of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

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 1:6

1:6 The furnishings included linen and purple curtains hung by cords of the finest linen ⁶  and purple wool on silver rings, alabaster columns, gold and silver couches ⁷  displayed on a floor made of valuable stones of alabaster, mother-of-pearl, and mineral stone.

Job 9:25

Renewed Complaint

9:25 “My days ⁸  are swifter than a runner, ⁹ 

they speed by without seeing happiness.

Jeremiah 51:21

51:21 I used you to smash horses and their riders. ¹⁰ 

I used you to smash chariots and their drivers.

¹ tn The words “stating that” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “children and women.” The translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.

³ tc The LXX does not include the words “on the thirteenth day.”

⁴ tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

⁵ 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).

⁶ sn The finest linen was byssus, a fine, costly, white fabric made in Egypt, Palestine, and Edom, and imported into Persia (BDB 101 s.v. בּוּץ; HALOT 115-16 s.v. בּוּץ).

⁷ tn The Hebrew noun מִטָּה (mittah) refers to a reclining couch (cf. KJV “beds”) spread with covers, cloth and pillow for feasting and carousing (Ezek 23:41; Amos 3:12; 6:4; Esth 1:6; 7:8). See BDB 641-42 s.v.; HALOT 573 s.v.

⁸ tn The text has “and my days” following the thoughts in the previous section.

⁹ sn Job returns to the thought of the brevity of his life (7:6). But now the figure is the swift runner instead of the weaver’s shuttle.

¹⁰ tn Heb “horse and its rider.” However, the terms are meant as generic or collective singulars (cf. GKC 395 §123.b) and are thus translated by the plural. The same thing is true of all the terms in vv. 21-23b. The terms in vv. 20c-d, 23c are plural.