Esther 1:5

1:5 When those days ¹  were completed, the king then provided a seven-day ²  banquet for all the people who were present ³  in Susa the citadel, for those of highest standing to the most lowly. ⁴  It was held in the court located in the garden of the royal palace.

Esther 2:20

2:20 Esther was still not divulging her lineage or her people, ⁵  just as Mordecai had instructed her. ⁶  Esther continued to do whatever Mordecai said, just as she had done when he was raising her.

Esther 3:8-9

3:8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a particular people ⁷  that is dispersed and spread among the inhabitants ⁸  throughout all the provinces of your kingdom whose laws differ from those of all other peoples. Furthermore, they do not observe the king’s laws. It is not appropriate for the king to provide a haven for them. ⁹  3:9 If the king is so inclined, ¹⁰  let an edict be issued ¹¹  to destroy them. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver ¹²  to be conveyed to the king’s treasuries for the officials who carry out this business.”

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 ¹³  tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud ¹⁴  and bitter voice.

Esther 5:12

5:12 Haman said, “Furthermore, Queen Esther invited ¹⁵  only me to accompany the king to the banquet that she prepared! And also tomorrow I am invited ¹⁶  along with the king.

Esther 6:9-11

6:9 Then let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king’s noble officials. Let him ¹⁷  then clothe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him lead him about through the plaza of the city on the horse, calling ¹⁸  before him, ‘So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!’”

6:10 The king then said to Haman, “Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just indicated to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Don’t neglect ¹⁹  a single thing of all that you have said.”

6:11 So Haman took the clothing and the horse, and he clothed Mordecai. He led him about on the horse throughout the plaza of the city, calling before him, “So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!”

Esther 7:2

7:2 On the second day of the banquet of wine the king asked Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your petition? Ask up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done!”

Esther 7:9

7:9 Harbona, ²⁰  one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is seventy-five feet ²¹  high.”

The king said, “Hang him on it!”

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 9:13

9:13 Esther replied, “If the king is so inclined, let the Jews who are in Susa be permitted to act tomorrow also according to today’s law, and let them hang the ten sons of Haman on the gallows.”

Esther 9:18-19

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. 9:19 This is why the Jews who are in the rural country – those who live in rural cities – set aside the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a holiday for happiness, banqueting, holiday, and sending gifts to one another.

Esther 9:22

9:22 as the time when the Jews gave themselves rest from their enemies – the month when their trouble was turned to happiness and their mourning to a holiday. These were to be days of banqueting, happiness, sending gifts to one another, and providing for the poor.

Esther 9:27-28

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. 9:28 These days were to be remembered and to be celebrated in every generation and in every family, every province, and every city. The Jews were not to fail to observe these days of Purim; the remembrance of them was not to cease among their descendants.

[1:5]  ¹ tc The Hebrew text of Esther does not indicate why this elaborate show of wealth and power was undertaken. According to the LXX these were “the days of the wedding” (αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ γάμου, Jai Jhmerai tou gamou), presumably the king’s wedding. However, a number of scholars have called attention to the fact that this celebration takes place just shortly before Xerxes’ invasion of Greece. It is possible that the banquet was a rallying for the up-coming military effort. See Herodotus, Histories 7.8. There is no reason to adopt the longer reading of the LXX here.

[1:5]  ² tc The LXX has ἕξ ({ex, “six”) instead of “seven.” Virtually all English versions follow the reading of the MT here, “seven.”

[1:5]  ³ tn Heb “were found.”

[1:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “from the great and unto the small.”

[2:20]  ⁵ sn That Esther was able so effectively to conceal her Jewish heritage suggests that she was not consistently observing Jewish dietary and religious requirements. As C. A. Moore observes, “In order for Esther to have concealed her ethnic and religious identity…in the harem, she must have eaten…, dressed, and lived like a Persian rather than an observant Jewess” (Esther [AB], 28.) In this regard her public behavior stands in contrast to that of Daniel, for example.

[2:20]  ⁶ tc The LXX adds the words “to fear God.”

[3:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “one people.” Note the subtle absence at this point of a specific mention of the Jewish people by name.

[3:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “peoples” (so NASB, NIV); NAB “nations”

[3:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to cause them to rest”; NASB “to let them remain”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “to tolerate them.”

[3:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.”

[3:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “let it be written” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “let it be decreed.”

[3:9]  ¹⁵ sn The enormity of the monetary sum referred to here can be grasped by comparing this amount (10,000 talents of silver) to the annual income of the empire, which according to Herodotus (Histories 3.95) was 14,500 Euboic talents. In other words Haman is offering the king a bribe equal to two-thirds of the royal income. Doubtless this huge sum of money was to come (in large measure) from the anticipated confiscation of Jewish property and assets once the Jews had been destroyed. That such a large sum of money is mentioned may indicate something of the economic standing of the Jewish population in the empire of King Ahasuerus.

[4:1]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “great.”

[5:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “caused to come”; KJV “did let no man come in…but myself.”

[5:12]  ²² tn Heb “called to her”; KJV “invited unto her”; NAB “I am to be her guest.”

[6:9]  ²⁵ tc The present translation reads with the LXX וְהִלְבִּישׁוֹ (vÿhilbisho, “and he will clothe him”) rather than the reading of the MT וְהִלְבִּישׁוּ (vÿhilbishu, “and they will clothe”). The reading of the LXX is also followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV, and NLT. Likewise, the later verbs in this verse (“cause him to ride” and “call”) are better taken as singulars rather than plurals.

[6:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and let them call” (see the previous note).

[6:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “do not let fall”; NASB “do not fall short.”

[7:9]  ³³ sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.

[7:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.