Esther 9:24-26

9:24 For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised plans against the Jews to destroy them. He had cast pur (that is, the lot) in order to afflict and destroy them. 9:25 But when the matter came to the king’s attention, the king ¹  gave written orders that Haman’s ²  evil intentions that he had devised against the Jews should fall on his own head. He and his sons were hanged on the gallows. 9:26 For this reason these days are known as Purim, after the name of pur.

Proverbs 16:33

16:33 The dice are thrown into the lap, ³ 

but their every decision ⁴  is from the Lord. ⁵ 

Ezekiel 21:21-22

21:21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork ⁶  in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: ⁷  He shakes arrows, he consults idols, ⁸  he examines ⁹  animal livers. ¹⁰  21:22 Into his right hand ¹¹  comes the portent for Jerusalem – to set up battering rams, to give the signal ¹²  for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry, ¹³  to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall.

Matthew 27:35

27:35 When ¹⁴  they had crucified ¹⁵  him, they divided his clothes by throwing dice. ¹⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “the lot is cast.” Because the ancient practice of “casting lots” is unfamiliar to many modern readers, the imagery has been updated to “throwing dice.”

⁴ tn Heb “all its decision.”

⁵ sn The point concerns seeking God’s will through the practice. The Lord gives guidance in decisions that are submitted to him.

⁶ tn Heb “mother.”

⁷ sn Mesopotamian kings believed that the gods revealed the future through omens. They employed various divination techniques, some of which are included in the list that follows. A particularly popular technique was the examination and interpretation of the livers of animals. See R. R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 90-110.

⁸ tn This word refers to personal idols that were apparently used for divination purposes (Gen 31:19; 1 Sam 19:13, 16).

⁹ tn Heb “sees.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the liver.”

¹¹ tn Or “on the right side,” i.e., the omen mark on the right side of the liver.

¹² tn Heb “to open the mouth” for slaughter.

¹³ tn Heb “to raise up a voice in a battle cry.”

¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁵ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

¹⁶ tn Grk “by throwing the lot” (probably by using marked pebbles or broken pieces of pottery). A modern equivalent, “throwing dice,” was chosen here because of its association with gambling. According to L&N 6.219 a term for “dice” is particularly appropriate.