Esther 7:1

The King Has Haman Executed

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

Esther 3:15

3:15 The messengers ²  scurried forth ³  with the king’s order. ⁴  The edict was issued in Susa the citadel. While the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in an uproar! ⁵ 

Esther 4:16

4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I ⁶  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ⁷  If I perish, I perish!”

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 tn Heb “runners.” So also in 8:10, 14. Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “couriers.”

³ tn Or “went forth in haste” (so ASV).

⁴ tn Heb “with the word of the king.”

⁵ sn The city of Susa was in an uproar. This final statement of v. 15 is a sad commentary on the pathetic disregard of despots for the human misery and suffering that they sometimes inflict on those who are helpless to resist their power. Here, while common people braced for the reckless loss of life and property that was about to begin, the perpetrators went about their mundane activities as though nothing of importance was happening.

³ tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”