Esther 7:1

The King Has Haman Executed

7:1 So the king and Haman came to dine ¹  with Queen Esther.

Esther 1:9

1:9 Queen Vashti ²  also gave a banquet for the women in King Ahasuerus’ royal palace.

Esther 2:22

2:22 When Mordecai learned of the conspiracy, ³  he informed Queen Esther, ⁴  and Esther told the king in Mordecai’s behalf. ⁵ 

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 1:11-12

1:11 to bring Queen Vashti into the king’s presence wearing her royal high turban. He wanted to show the people and the officials her beauty, for she was very attractive. ⁶  1:12 But Queen Vashti refused ⁷  to come at the king’s bidding ⁸  conveyed through the eunuchs. Then the king became extremely angry, and his rage consumed ⁹  him.

Esther 1:18

1:18 And this very day the noble ladies of Persia and Media who have heard the matter concerning the queen will respond in the same way to all the royal officials, and there will be more than enough contempt and anger!

Esther 5:3

5:3 The king said to her, “What is on your mind, ¹⁰  Queen Esther? What is your request? Even as much as half the kingdom will be given to you!”

Esther 7:5

7:5 Then King Ahasuerus responded ¹¹  to Queen Esther, “Who is this individual? Where is this person to be found who is presumptuous enough ¹²  to act in this way?”

Esther 9:29

9:29 So Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority to confirm this second ¹³  letter about Purim.

¹ tn Heb “to drink”; NASB “to drink wine.” The expression is a metaphor for lavish feasting, cf. NRSV “to feast”; KJV “to banquet.”

² sn Vashti is the name of Xerxes’ queen according to the Book of Esther. But in the Greek histories of this period the queen’s name is given as Amestris (e.g., Herodotus, Histories 9.108-13). The name Vashti does not seem to occur in the nonbiblical records from this period. Apparently the two women are not to be confused, but not enough is known about this period to reconcile completely the biblical and extrabiblical accounts.

³ sn The text of Esther does not disclose exactly how Mordecai learned about the plot against the king’s life. Ancient Jewish traditions state that Mordecai overheard conspiratorial conversation, or that an informant brought this information to him, or that it came to him as a result of divine prompting. These conjectures are all without adequate support from the biblical text. The author simply does not tell the source of Mordecai’s insight into this momentous event.

⁴ tc The LXX simply reads “Esther” and does not include “the queen.”

⁵ tc The LXX adds here “the things concerning the plot.”

⁴ tn Heb “was good of appearance”; KJV “was fair to look on”; NAB “was lovely to behold.”

⁵ sn Refusal to obey the king was risky even for a queen in the ancient world. It is not clear why Vashti behaved so rashly and put herself in such danger. Apparently she anticipated humiliation of some kind and was unwilling to subject herself to it, in spite of the obvious dangers. There is no justification in the biblical text for an ancient Jewish targumic tradition that the king told her to appear before his guests dressed in nothing but her royal high turban, that is, essentially naked.

⁶ tn Heb “at the word of the king”; NASB “at the king’s command.”

⁷ tn Heb “burned in him” (so KJV).

⁶ tn Heb “What to you?”; NAB, NIV NRSV “What is it, Queen Esther?”

⁷ tc The second occurrence of the Hebrew verb וַיּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”) in the MT should probably be disregarded. The repetition is unnecessary in the context and may be the result of dittography in the MT.

⁸ tn Heb “has so filled his heart”; NAB “who has dared to do this.”

⁸ tc The LXX and the Syriac Peshitta omit the word “second.”