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 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. ³ 

Esther 9:29

9:29 So Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority to confirm this second ⁴  letter about Purim.

Esther 2:21

2:21 In those days while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan ⁵  and Teresh, ⁶  two of the king’s eunuchs who protected the entrance, ⁷  became angry and plotted to assassinate ⁸  King Ahasuerus.

Esther 3:2

3:2 As a result, ⁹  all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate were bowing and paying homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded. However, Mordecai did not bow, ¹⁰  nor did he pay him homage.

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 ¹¹  tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud ¹²  and bitter voice.

Esther 8:1

The King Acts to Protect the Jews

8:1 On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate ¹³  of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her.

[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.

[8:15]  ³ tn Heb “shouted and rejoiced.” The expression is a hendiadys (see the note on 5:10 for an explanation of this figure).

[9:29]  ⁵ tc The LXX and the Syriac Peshitta omit the word “second.”

[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.”

[3:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[3:2]  ¹⁰ sn Mordecai did not bow. The reason for Mordecai’s refusal to bow before Haman is not clearly stated here. Certainly the Jews did not refuse to bow as a matter of principle, as though such an action somehow violated the second command of the Decalogue. Many biblical texts bear witness to their practice of falling prostrate before people of power and influence (e.g., 1 Sam 24:8; 2 Sam 14:4; 1 Kgs 1:16). Perhaps the issue here was that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, a people who had attacked Israel in an earlier age (see Exod 17:8-16; 1 Sam 15:17-20; Deut 25:17-19).

[4:1]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “great.”

[8:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV; also in vv. 2, 7). Cf. TEV “all the property.”