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 8:12

8:12 This was to take place on a certain day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus – namely, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar).

Esther 9:17

9:17 All of this happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. They then rested on the fourteenth day and made it a day for banqueting and happiness.

Esther 9:1

The Jews Prevail over Their Enemies

9:1 In the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), on its thirteenth day, the edict of the king and his law were to be executed. It was on this day that the enemies of the Jews had supposed that they would gain power over them. But contrary to expectations, the Jews gained power over their enemies.

Esther 9:15

9:15 The Jews who were in Susa then assembled on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they killed three hundred men in Susa. But they did not confiscate their property.

Esther 9:18

The Origins of the Feast of Purim

9:18 But the Jews who were in Susa assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth days, and rested on the fifteenth, making it a day for banqueting and happiness.

Esther 3:12-13

3:12 So the royal scribes ⁵  were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month. Everything Haman commanded was written to the king’s satraps ⁶  and governors who were in every province and to the officials of every people, province by province according to its script and people by people according to its language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 3:13 Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that ⁷  they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, ⁸  on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day ⁹  of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

Esther 4:16

4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I ¹⁰  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ¹¹  If I perish, I perish!”

Esther 8:9

8:9 The king’s scribes were quickly ¹²  summoned – in the third month (that is, the month of Sivan), on the twenty-third day. ¹³  They wrote out ¹⁴  everything that Mordecai instructed to the Jews and to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces all the way from India to Ethiopia ¹⁵  – a hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all – to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, and to the Jews according to their own script and their own language.

[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).

[3:12]  ⁵ tn Or “secretaries” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[3:12]  ⁶ tn Or “princes” (so NLT); CEV “highest officials.”

[3:13]  ⁹ tn The words “stating that” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “children and women.” The translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.

[3:13]  ¹¹ tc The LXX does not include the words “on the thirteenth day.”

[4:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

[4:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”

[8:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in that time”; NIV “At once.”

[8:9]  ¹⁸ sn Cf. 3:12. Two months and ten days have passed since Haman’s edict to wipe out the Jews.

[8:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “it was written”; this passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[8:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Cush” (so NIV), referring to the region of the upper Nile in Africa. Cf. KJV and most other English versions “Ethiopia.”