Esther 2:20

2:20 Esther was still not divulging her lineage or her people, ¹  just as Mordecai had instructed her. ²  Esther continued to do whatever Mordecai said, just as she had done when he was raising her.

Esther 3:1

Haman Conspires to Destroy the Jews

3:1 Some time later ³  King Ahasuerus promoted ⁴  Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, exalting him and setting his position ⁵  above that of all the officials who were with him.

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 9:25

9:25 But when the matter came to the king’s attention, the king ⁶  gave written orders that Haman’s ⁷  evil intentions that he had devised against the Jews should fall on his own head. He and his sons were hanged on the gallows.

[2:20]  ¹ 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]  ² tc The LXX adds the words “to fear God.”

[3:1]  ³ tn Heb “after these things” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV “After these events.”

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “made great”; NAB “raised…to high rank”; NIV “honored.”

[3:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “chair”; KJV, NRSV “seat”; NASB “established his authority.”

[9:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.