Esther 2:19

Mordecai Learns of a Plot against the King

2:19 Now when the young women were being gathered again, ¹  Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. ² 

Esther 3:15

3:15 The messengers ³  scurried forth ⁴  with the king’s order. ⁵  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! ⁶ 

Esther 5:13

5:13 Yet all of this fails to satisfy me so long as I have to see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

Esther 1:14

1:14 Those who were closest to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan. These men were the seven officials of Persia and Media who saw the king on a regular basis ⁷  and had the most prominent offices ⁸  in the kingdom.

Esther 2:21

2:21 In those days while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan ⁹  and Teresh, ¹⁰  two of the king’s eunuchs who protected the entrance, ¹¹  became angry and plotted to assassinate ¹²  King Ahasuerus.

Esther 5:1

Esther Appeals to the King for Help

5:1 It so happened that on the third day Esther put on her royal attire and stood in the inner court of the palace, ¹³  opposite the king’s quarters. ¹⁴  The king was sitting on his royal throne in the palace, opposite the entrance. ¹⁵ 

Esther 6:10

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 ¹⁶  a single thing of all that you have said.”

Esther 9:19

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.

[2:19]  ¹ tc The LXX does not include the words “Now when the young women were being gathered again.” The Hebrew word שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”) is difficult in v. 19, but apparently it refers to a subsequent regathering of the women to the harem.

[2:19]  ² sn That Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate apparently means that he was a high-ranking government official. It was at the city gate where important business was transacted. Being in this position afforded Mordecai an opportunity to become aware of the plot against the king’s life, although the author does not include the particular details of how this information first came to Mordecai’s attention.

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

[3:15]  ⁴ tn Or “went forth in haste” (so ASV).

[3:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “with the word of the king.”

[3:15]  ⁶ 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.

[1:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “seers of the face of the king”; NASB “who had access to the king’s presence.”

[1:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “were sitting first”; NAB “held first rank in the realm.”

[2:21]  ⁷ tn This individual is referred to as “Bigthana,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 6:2.

[2:21]  ⁸ tc The LXX does not include the names “Bigthan and Teresh” here.

[2:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “guarders of the threshold”; NIV “who guarded the doorway.”

[2:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sought to send a hand against”; CEV “decided to kill.”

[5:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “of the house of the king”; NASB, NRSV “of the king’s palace.”

[5:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the house of the king”; NASB “the king’s rooms”; NIV, NLT “the king’s hall.” This expression is used twice in this verse. In the first instance, it is apparently the larger palace complex that is in view, whereas in the second instance the expression seems to refer specifically to the quarters from which the king governed.

[5:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the entrance of the house” (so ASV).

[6:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “do not let fall”; NASB “do not fall short.”