5:14 Haman’s 1 wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet 2 high built, and in the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it. Then go with the king to the banquet contented.” 3
It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.
7:8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down 4 on the couch where Esther was lying. 5 The king exclaimed, “Will he also attempt to rape the queen while I am still in the building!”
As these words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
1 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “fifty cubits.” Assuming a standard length for the cubit of about 18 inches (45 cm), this would be about seventy-five feet (22.5 meters), which is a surprisingly tall height for the gallows. Perhaps the number assumes the gallows was built on a large supporting platform or a natural hill for visual effect, in which case the structure itself may have been considerably smaller. Cf. NCV “a seventy-five foot platform”; CEV “a tower built about seventy-five feet high.”
3 tn Or “joyful”; NRSV “in good spirits”; TEV “happy.”
4 tn Heb “falling”; NAB, NRSV “had (+ just TEV) thrown himself (+ down TEV).”
5 tn Heb “where Esther was” (so KJV, NASB). The term “lying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “was reclining.”