Esther 1:3

1:3 in the third ¹  year of his reign he provided a banquet for all his officials and his servants. The army ²  of Persia and Media ³  was present, ⁴  as well as the nobles and the officials of the provinces.

Esther 1:11

1:11 to bring Queen Vashti into the king’s presence wearing her royal high turban. He wanted to show the people and the officials her beauty, for she was very attractive. ⁵ 

Esther 1:13

1:13 The king then inquired of the wise men who were discerners of the times – for it was the royal custom to confer with all those who were proficient in laws and legalities. ⁶ 

Esther 2:11

2:11 And day after day Mordecai used to walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem in order to learn how Esther was doing ⁷  and what might happen to her.

Esther 2:23

2:23 The king then had the matter investigated and, finding it to be so, had the two conspirators ⁸  hanged on a gallows. ⁹  It was then recorded in the daily chronicles in the king’s presence.

Esther 4:2

4:2 But he went no further than the king’s gate, for no one was permitted to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

Esther 4:5

4:5 So Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been placed at her service, ¹⁰  and instructed him to find out the cause and reason for Mordecai’s behavior. ¹¹ 

Esther 6:1

The Turning Point: The King Honors Mordecai

6:1 Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep, ¹²  so he asked for the book containing the historical records ¹³  to be brought. As the records ¹⁴  were being read in the king’s presence,

Esther 7:6

7:6 Esther replied, “The oppressor and enemy is this evil Haman!”

Then Haman became terrified in the presence of the king and queen.

Esther 8:15

8:15 Now Mordecai went out from the king’s presence in purple and white royal attire, with a large golden crown and a purple linen mantle. The city of Susa shouted with joy. ¹⁵ 

[1:3]  ¹ sn The third year of Xerxes’ reign would be ca. 483 b.c.

[1:3]  ² tc Due to the large numbers of people implied, some scholars suggest that the original text may have read “leaders of the army” (cf. NAB “Persian and Median aristocracy”; NASB “the army officers”; NIV “the military leaders”). However, there is no textual evidence for this emendation, and the large numbers are not necessarily improbable.

[1:3]  ³ sn Unlike the Book of Daniel, the usual order for this expression in Esther is “Persia and Media” (cf. vv. 14, 18, 19). In Daniel the order is “Media and Persia,” indicating a time in their history when Media was in the ascendancy.

[1:3]  ⁴ sn The size of the banquet described here, the number of its invited guests, and the length of its duration, although certainly immense by any standard, are not without precedent in the ancient world. C. A. Moore documents a Persian banquet for 15,000 people and an Assyrian celebration with 69,574 guests (Esther [AB], 6).

[1:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “was good of appearance”; KJV “was fair to look on”; NAB “was lovely to behold.”

[1:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “judgment” (so KJV); NASB, NIV “justice”; NRSV “custom.”

[2:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “to know the peace of Esther.”

[2:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “they both were hanged.” The referent (the two eunuchs who conspired against the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:23]  ¹⁸ tn Or “on a pole”; KJV, ASV “on a tree.”

[4:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “whom he caused to stand before her”; NASB “whom the king had appointed to attend her.”

[4:5]  ²² tn Heb “concerning Mordecai, to know what this was, and why this was.”

[6:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and the sleep of the king fled.” In place of the rather innocuous comment of the Hebrew text, the LXX reads here, “And the Lord removed the sleep from the king.” The Greek text thus understands the statement in a more overtly theological way than does the Hebrew text, although even in the Hebrew text there may be a hint of God’s providence at work in this matter. After all, this event is crucial to the later reversal of Haman’s plot to destroy the Jewish people, and a sympathetic reader is likely to look beyond the apparent coincidence.

[6:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the book of the remembrances of the accounts of the days”; NAB “the chronicle of notable events.”

[6:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the records) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “shouted and rejoiced.” The expression is a hendiadys (see the note on 5:10 for an explanation of this figure).