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 4:14

4:14 “Don’t imagine that because you are part of the king’s household you will be the one Jew ⁴  who will escape. If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear ⁵  from another source, ⁶  while you and your father’s household perish. It may very well be ⁷  that you have achieved royal status ⁸  for such a time as this!”

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, ⁹  and to confiscate their property.

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 “from all the Jews”; KJV “more than all the Jews”; NIV “you alone of all the Jews.”

⁵ tn Heb “stand”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT “arise.”

⁶ tn Heb “place” (so KJV, NIV, NLT); NRSV “from another quarter.” This is probably an oblique reference to help coming from God. D. J. A. Clines disagrees; in his view a contrast between deliverance by Esther and deliverance by God is inappropriate (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther [NCBC], 302). But Clines’ suggestion that perhaps the reference is to deliverance by Jewish officials or by armed Jewish revolt is less attractive than seeing this veiled reference as part of the literary strategy of the book, which deliberately keeps God’s providential dealings entirely in the background.

⁷ tn Heb “And who knows whether” (so NASB). The question is one of hope, but free of presumption. Cf. Jonah 3:9.

⁸ tn Heb “have come to the kingdom”; NRSV “to royal dignity”; NIV “to royal position”; NLT “have been elevated to the palace.”

⁷ tn Heb “children and women.” As in 3:13, the translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.