Esther 2:3

2:3 And let the king appoint officers throughout all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the attractive young women to Susa the citadel, to the harem ¹  under the authority of Hegai, the king’s eunuch who oversees the women, and let him provide whatever cosmetics they desire. ² 

Esther 3:8

3:8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a particular people ³  that is dispersed and spread among the inhabitants ⁴  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. ⁵ 

Esther 3:13

3:13 Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that ⁶  they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, ⁷  on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day ⁸  of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

Esther 8:17

8:17 Throughout every province and throughout every city where the king’s edict and his law arrived, the Jews experienced happiness and joy, banquets and holidays. Many of the resident peoples ⁹  pretended ¹⁰  to be Jews, because the fear of the Jews had overcome them. ¹¹ 

Esther 9:12

9:12 Then the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman! What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? What is your request? It shall be given to you. What other petition do you have? It shall be done.”

Esther 9:28

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.

[2:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the house of the women” (so KJV, ASV). So also in vv. 9, 11, 13, and 14.

[2:3]  ² tn Heb “their ointments”; cf. NIV, CEV, NLT “beauty treatments.”

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

[3:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “peoples” (so NASB, NIV); NAB “nations”

[3:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “to cause them to rest”; NASB “to let them remain”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “to tolerate them.”

[3:13]  ⁵ tn The words “stating that” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “children and women.” The translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.

[3:13]  ⁷ tc The LXX does not include the words “on the thirteenth day.”

[8:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “peoples of the land” (so NASB); NIV “people of other nationalities”; NRSV “peoples of the country.”

[8:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “were becoming Jews”; NAB “embraced Judaism.” However, the Hitpael stem of the verb is sometimes used of a feigning action rather than a genuine one (see, e.g., 2 Sam 13:5, 6), which is the way the present translation understands the use of the word here (cf. NEB “professed themselves Jews”; NRSV “professed to be Jews”). This is the only occurrence of this verb in the Hebrew Bible, so there are no exact parallels. However, in the context of v. 17 the motivation of their conversion (Heb “the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them”) should not be overlooked. The LXX apparently understood the conversion described here to be genuine, since it adds the words “they were being circumcised and” before “they became Jews.”

[8:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “had fallen upon them” (so NRSV); NIV “had seized them.”