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, ¹  along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish, ²  you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”

Esther 1:3

1:3 in the third ³  year of his reign he provided a banquet for all his officials and his servants. The army ⁴  of Persia and Media ⁵  was present, ⁶  as well as the nobles and the officials of the provinces.

Esther 1:17

1:17 For the matter concerning the queen will spread to all the women, leading them to treat their husbands with contempt, saying, ‘When King Ahasuerus gave orders to bring Queen Vashti into his presence, she would not come.’

Esther 2:9

2:9 This young woman pleased him, ⁷  and she found favor with him. He quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her rations; he also provided her with the seven specially chosen ⁸  young women who were from the palace. He then transferred her and her young women to the best quarters in the harem. ⁹ 

Esther 2:17

2:17 And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she met with his loving approval ¹⁰  more than all the other young women. ¹¹  So he placed the royal high turban on her head and appointed her queen ¹²  in place of Vashti.

Esther 6:9

6:9 Then let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king’s noble officials. Let him ¹³  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 ¹⁴  before him, ‘So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!’”

Esther 6:11

6:11 So Haman took the clothing and the horse, and he clothed Mordecai. He led him about on the horse throughout the plaza of the city, calling before him, “So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!”

Esther 8:5

8:5 She said, “If the king is so inclined and if I have met with his approval and if the matter is agreeable to the king and if I am attractive to him, let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, ¹⁵  which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king’s provinces.

¹ 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.”

² tn Heb “from the seed of the Jews”; KJV, ASV similar.

³ sn The third year of Xerxes’ reign would be ca. 483 b.c.

⁴ tc Due to the large numbers of people implied, some scholars suggest that the original text may have read “leaders of the army” (cf. NAB “Persian and Median aristocracy”; NASB “the army officers”; NIV “the military leaders”). However, there is no textual evidence for this emendation, and the large numbers are not necessarily improbable.

⁵ sn Unlike the Book of Daniel, the usual order for this expression in Esther is “Persia and Media” (cf. vv. 14, 18, 19). In Daniel the order is “Media and Persia,” indicating a time in their history when Media was in the ascendancy.

⁶ sn The size of the banquet described here, the number of its invited guests, and the length of its duration, although certainly immense by any standard, are not without precedent in the ancient world. C. A. Moore documents a Persian banquet for 15,000 people and an Assyrian celebration with 69,574 guests (Esther [AB], 6).

⁵ tn Heb “was good in his eyes”; NLT “Hegai was very impressed with Esther.”

⁶ tn Heb “being looked at (with favor).”

⁷ tn Heb “of the house of the women” (so KJV, ASV). So also in vv. 11, 13, 14.

⁷ tn Heb “grace and loyal love.” The expression is probably a hendiadys.

⁸ tc The LXX does not include the words “more than all the other young women.”

⁹ tn Heb “caused her to rule.”

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and let them call” (see the previous note).

¹¹ tc The LXX does not include the expression “the Agagite.”