Esther 2:6

2:6 who had been taken into exile from Jerusalem ¹  with the captives who had been carried into exile with Jeconiah ²  king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile.

Esther 7:1

The King Has Haman Executed

7:1 So the king and Haman came to dine ³  with Queen Esther.

Esther 3:6

3:6 But the thought of striking out against ⁴  Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed ⁵  of the identity of Mordecai’s people. ⁶  So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai) ⁷  who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Esther 3:8

3:8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a particular people ⁸  that is dispersed and spread among the inhabitants ⁹  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. ¹⁰ 

Esther 5:12

5:12 Haman said, “Furthermore, Queen Esther invited ¹¹  only me to accompany the king to the banquet that she prepared! And also tomorrow I am invited ¹²  along with the king.

Esther 1:22

1:22 He sent letters throughout all the royal provinces, to each province according to its own script and to each people according to its own language, ¹³  that every man should be ruling his family ¹⁴  and should be speaking the language of his own people. ¹⁵ 

Esther 5:14

5:14 Haman’s ¹⁶  wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet ¹⁷  high built, and in the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it. Then go with the king to the banquet contented.” ¹⁸ 

It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.

Esther 8:11

8:11 The king thereby allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and to stand up for themselves – to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any army of whatever people or province that should become their adversaries, including their women and children, ¹⁹  and to confiscate their property.

Esther 9:25

9:25 But when the matter came to the king’s attention, the king ²⁰  gave written orders that Haman’s ²¹  evil intentions that he had devised against the Jews should fall on his own head. He and his sons were hanged on the gallows.

Esther 3:12

3:12 So the royal scribes ²²  were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month. Everything Haman commanded was written to the king’s satraps ²³  and governors who were in every province and to the officials of every people, province by province according to its script and people by people according to its language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

[2:6]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:6]  ² sn Jeconiah is an alternative name for Jehoiachin. A number of modern English versions use the latter name to avoid confusion (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[7:1]  ³ tn Heb “to drink”; NASB “to drink wine.” The expression is a metaphor for lavish feasting, cf. NRSV “to feast”; KJV “to banquet.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “to send a hand against”; KJV, NRSV “to lay hands on.”

[3:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “they had related to him.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a passive construction.

[3:6]  ⁷ tc The entire first half of the verse is not included in the LXX.

[3:6]  ⁸ tc This parenthetical phrase is not included in the LXX. Some scholars emend the MT reading עַם (’am, “people”) to עִם (’im, “with”), arguing that the phrase is awkwardly placed and syntactically inappropriate. While there is some truth to their complaint, the MT makes sufficient sense to be acceptable here, and is followed by most English versions.

[3:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “one people.” Note the subtle absence at this point of a specific mention of the Jewish people by name.

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

[3:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “to cause them to rest”; NASB “to let them remain”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “to tolerate them.”

[5:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “caused to come”; KJV “did let no man come in…but myself.”

[5:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “called to her”; KJV “invited unto her”; NAB “I am to be her guest.”

[1:22]  ¹¹ sn For purposes of diplomacy and governmental communication throughout the far-flung regions of the Persian empire the Aramaic language was normally used. Educated people throughout the kingdom could be expected to have competence in this language. But in the situation described in v. 22 a variety of local languages are to be used, and not just Aramaic, so as to make the king’s edict understandable to the largest possible number of people.

[1:22]  ¹² tn Heb “in his house”; NIV “over his own household.”

[1:22]  ¹³ tc The final prepositional phrase is not included in the LXX, and this shorter reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT). Some scholars suggest the phrase may be the result of dittography from the earlier phrase “to each people according to its language,” but this is not a necessary conclusion. The edict was apparently intended to reassert male prerogative with regard to two things (and not just one): sovereign and unquestioned leadership within the family unit, and the right of deciding which language was to be used in the home when a bilingual situation existed.

[5:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” Assuming a standard length for the cubit of about 18 inches (45 cm), this would be about seventy-five feet (22.5 meters), which is a surprisingly tall height for the gallows. Perhaps the number assumes the gallows was built on a large supporting platform or a natural hill for visual effect, in which case the structure itself may have been considerably smaller. Cf. NCV “a seventy-five foot platform”; CEV “a tower built about seventy-five feet high.”

[5:14]  ¹⁵ tn Or “joyful”; NRSV “in good spirits”; TEV “happy.”

[8:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “children and women.” As in 3:13, the translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.

[9:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:25]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:12]  ¹⁹ tn Or “secretaries” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[3:12]  ²⁰ tn Or “princes” (so NLT); CEV “highest officials.”