Esther 3:15

3:15 The messengers ¹  scurried forth ²  with the king’s order. ³  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! ⁴ 

Ecclesiastes 10:5

10:5 I have seen another ⁵  misfortune ⁶  on the earth: ⁷ 

It is an error a ruler makes. ⁸ 

Matthew 2:3

2:3 When King Herod ⁹  heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him.

Matthew 2:16

2:16 When Herod ¹⁰  saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men ¹¹  to kill all the children in Bethlehem ¹²  and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men.

[3:15]  ¹ tn Heb “runners.” So also in 8:10, 14. Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “couriers.”

[3:15]  ² tn Or “went forth in haste” (so ASV).

[3:15]  ³ tn Heb “with the word of the king.”

[3:15]  ⁴ 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.

[10:5]  ⁵ tn The term “another” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation to indicate that this is not the first “misfortune” described by the Teacher. See 5:13, 16; 6:1-2.

[10:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “an evil.”

[10:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[10:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “like an error that comes forth from the presence of a ruler.”

[2:3]  ⁹ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[2:16]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Note the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the angel in 2:13.

[2:16]  ¹¹ tn Or “soldiers.”

[2:16]  ¹² map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.