Esther 7:4

7:4 For we have been sold ¹  – both I and my people – to destruction and to slaughter and to annihilation! If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king.”

Nehemiah 2:3

2:3 I replied to the king, “O king, live forever! Why would I not appear dejected when the city with the graves of my ancestors ²  lies desolate and its gates destroyed ³  by fire?”

¹ sn The passive verb (“have been sold”) is noncommittal and nonaccusatory with regard to the king’s role in the decision to annihilate the Jews.

² tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 5).

³ tn Heb “devoured” or “eaten” (so also in Neh 2:13).