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 2:3

2:3 And let the king appoint officers throughout all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the attractive young women to Susa the citadel, to the harem ¹  under the authority of Hegai, the king’s eunuch who oversees the women, and let him provide whatever cosmetics they desire. ² 

Esther 3:1

Haman Conspires to Destroy the Jews

3:1 Some time later ³  King Ahasuerus promoted ⁴  Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, exalting him and setting his position ⁵  above that of all the officials who were with him.

Esther 3:6

3:6 But the thought of striking out against ⁶  Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed ⁷  of the identity of Mordecai’s people. ⁸  So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai) ⁹  who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Esther 4:1

Esther Decides to Risk Everything in order to Help Her People

4:1 Now when Mordecai became aware of all that had been done, he ¹⁰  tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud ¹¹  and bitter voice.

Esther 4:7

4:7 Then Mordecai related to him everything that had happened to him, even the specific amount of money that Haman had offered to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed.

Esther 5:11

5:11 Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth, ¹²  his many sons, ¹³  and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king’s other officials and servants.

Esther 6:13

6:13 Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men, ¹⁴  along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish, ¹⁵  you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”

Esther 8:11

8:11 The king thereby allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and to stand up for themselves – to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any army of whatever people or province that should become their adversaries, including their women and children, ¹⁶  and to confiscate their property.

Esther 9:2

9:2 The Jews assembled themselves in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike out against those who were seeking their harm. No one was able to stand before them, for dread of them fell on all the peoples.

Esther 9:26-27

9:26 For this reason these days are known as Purim, after the name of pur. 9:27 Therefore, because of the account found in this letter and what they had faced in this regard and what had happened to them, the Jews established as binding on themselves, their descendants, and all who joined their company that they should observe these two days without fail, just as written and at the appropriate time on an annual basis.

[2:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the house of the women” (so KJV, ASV). So also in vv. 9, 11, 13, and 14.

[2:3]  ² tn Heb “their ointments”; cf. NIV, CEV, NLT “beauty treatments.”

[3:1]  ¹ tn Heb “after these things” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV “After these events.”

[3:1]  ² tn Heb “made great”; NAB “raised…to high rank”; NIV “honored.”

[3:1]  ³ tn Heb “chair”; KJV, NRSV “seat”; NASB “established his authority.”

[3:6]  ¹ tn Heb “to send a hand against”; KJV, NRSV “to lay hands on.”

[3:6]  ² tn Heb “they had related to him.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a passive construction.

[3:6]  ³ tc The entire first half of the verse is not included in the LXX.

[3:6]  ⁴ tc This parenthetical phrase is not included in the LXX. Some scholars emend the MT reading עַם (’am, “people”) to עִם (’im, “with”), arguing that the phrase is awkwardly placed and syntactically inappropriate. While there is some truth to their complaint, the MT makes sufficient sense to be acceptable here, and is followed by most English versions.

[4:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Mordecai.” The pronoun (“he”) was used in the translation for stylistic reasons. A repetition of the proper name here is redundant in terms of contemporary English style.

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “great.”

[5:11]  ¹ tn Heb “the glory of his riches” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “the splendor of his riches.”

[5:11]  ² sn According to Esth 9:10 Haman had ten sons.

[6:13]  ¹ tc Part of the Greek tradition and the Syriac Peshitta understand this word as “friends,” probably reading the Hebrew term רֲכָמָיו (rakhamayv, “his friends”) rather than the reading of the MT חֲכָמָיו (hakhamayv, “his wise men”). Cf. NLT “all his friends”; the two readings appear to be conflated by TEV as “those wise friends of his.”

[6:13]  ² tn Heb “from the seed of the Jews”; KJV, ASV similar.

[8:11]  ¹ tn Heb “children and women.” As in 3:13, the translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.