Esther 3:11

3:11 The king replied to Haman, “Keep your money, ¹  and do with those people whatever you wish.” ² 

Esther 10:3

10:3 Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking ³  Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. ⁴  He worked enthusiastically ⁵  for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of ⁶  all his descendants. ⁷ 

Esther 1:21

1:21 The matter seemed appropriate to the king and the officials. So the king acted on the advice of Memucan.

Esther 5:4

5:4 Esther replied, “If the king is so inclined, ⁸  let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”

Esther 7:9

7:9 Harbona, ⁹  one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is seventy-five feet ¹⁰  high.”

The king said, “Hang him on it!”

Esther 9:22

9:22 as the time when the Jews gave themselves rest from their enemies – the month when their trouble was turned to happiness and their mourning to a holiday. These were to be days of banqueting, happiness, sending gifts to one another, and providing for the poor.

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.

Esther 5:13-14

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.”

5:14 Haman’s ¹¹  wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet ¹²  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.” ¹³ 

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

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 ¹⁴  pretended ¹⁵  to be Jews, because the fear of the Jews had overcome them. ¹⁶ 

Esther 1:11

1:11 to bring Queen Vashti into the king’s presence wearing her royal high turban. He wanted to show the people and the officials her beauty, for she was very attractive. ¹⁷ 

Esther 2:4

2:4 Let the young woman whom the king finds most attractive ¹⁸  become queen in place of Vashti.” This seemed like a good idea to the king, ¹⁹  so he acted accordingly.

Esther 5:9

Haman Expresses His Hatred of Mordecai

5:9 Now Haman went forth that day pleased and very much encouraged. ²⁰  But when Haman saw Mordecai at the king’s gate, and he did not rise nor tremble in his presence, ²¹  Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.

Esther 1:19

1:19 If the king is so inclined, ²²  let a royal edict go forth from him, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media that cannot be repealed, ²³  that Vashti ²⁴  may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king convey her royalty to another ²⁵  who is more deserving than she. ²⁶ 

Esther 2:7

2:7 Now he was acting as the guardian ²⁷  of Hadassah ²⁸  (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, for neither her father nor her mother was alive. ²⁹  This young woman was very attractive and had a beautiful figure. ³⁰  When her father and mother died, Mordecai had raised her ³¹  as if she were his own daughter.

Esther 8:8

8:8 Now you write in the king’s name whatever in your opinion is appropriate concerning the Jews and seal it with the king’s signet ring. Any decree that is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be rescinded.

[3:11]  ¹ tn Heb “the silver is given to you”; NRSV “the money is given to you”; CEV “You can keep their money.” C. A. Moore (Esther [AB], 40) understands these words somewhat differently, taking them to imply acceptance of the money on Xerxes’ part. He translates, “Well, it’s your money.”

[3:11]  ² tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes”; NASB “do with them as you please.”

[10:3]  ³ tn Heb “great among the Jews” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “preeminent among the Jews”; NRSV “powerful among the Jews.”

[10:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “brothers”; NASB “kinsmen”; NIV “fellow Jews.”

[10:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “he was seeking”; NAB “as the promoter of his people’s welfare.”

[10:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “he was speaking peace to”; NRSV “and interceded for the welfare of.”

[10:3]  ⁷ sn A number of additions to the Book of Esther appear in the apocryphal (or deuterocanonical) writings. These additions supply further information about various scenes described in the canonical book and are interesting in their own right. However, they were never a part of the Hebrew Bible. The placement of this additional material in certain Greek manuscripts of the Book of Esther may be described as follows. At the beginning of Esther there is an account (= chapter 11) of a dream in which Mordecai is warned by God of a coming danger for the Jews. In this account two great dragons, representing Mordecai and Haman, prepare for conflict. But God responds to the prayers of his people, and the crisis is resolved. This account is followed by another one (= chapter 12) in which Mordecai is rewarded for disclosing a plot against the king’s life. After Esth 3:13 there is a copy of a letter from King Artaxerxes authorizing annihilation of the Jews (= chapter 13). After Esth 4:17 the account continues with a prayer of Mordecai (= part of chapter 13), followed by a prayer of Esther (= chapter 14), and an account which provides details about Esther’s appeal to the king in behalf of her people (= chapter 15). After Esth 8:12 there is a copy of a letter from King Artaxerxes in which he denounces Haman and his plot and authorizes his subjects to assist the Jews (= chapter 16). At the end of the book, following Esth 10:3, there is an addition which provides an interpretation to Mordecai’s dream, followed by a brief ascription of genuineness to the entire book (= chapter 11).

[5:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; NASB “If it please the king.”

[7:9]  ⁷ sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.

[7:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.

[5:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:14]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Or “joyful”; NRSV “in good spirits”; TEV “happy.”

[8:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “peoples of the land” (so NASB); NIV “people of other nationalities”; NRSV “peoples of the country.”

[8:17]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “had fallen upon them” (so NRSV); NIV “had seized them.”

[1:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “was good of appearance”; KJV “was fair to look on”; NAB “was lovely to behold.”

[2:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “who is good in the eyes of the king.”

[2:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the matter was good in the eyes of the king.” Cf. TEV “The king thought this was good advice.”

[5:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “happy and good of heart”; NASB “glad and pleased of heart”; NIV “happy and in high spirits.”

[5:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “tremble from before him”; NIV “nor showed fear in his presence”; TEV “or show any sign of respect as he passed.”

[1:19]  ¹⁹ sn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.” Deferential language was common in ancient Near Eastern court language addressing a despot; it occurs often in Esther.

[1:19]  ²⁰ sn Laws…that cannot be repealed. On the permanence of the laws of Media and Persia see also Esth 8:8 and Dan 6:8, 12, 15.

[1:19]  ²¹ sn Previously in this chapter the word “queen” accompanies Vashti’s name (cf. vv. 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17). But here, in anticipation of her demotion, the title is dropped.

[1:19]  ²² tn Heb “her neighbor”; NIV “someone else.”

[1:19]  ²³ tn Heb “who is better than she.” The reference is apparently to worthiness of the royal position as demonstrated by compliance with the king’s wishes, although the word טוֹב (tob, “good”) can also be used of physical beauty. Cf. NAB, NASB, NLT “more worthy than she.”

[2:7]  ²¹ tn According to HALOT 64 s.v. II אמן the term אֹמֵן (’omen) means: (1) “attendant” of children (Num 11:12; Isa 49:23); (2) “guardian” (2 Kgs 10:1, 5; Esth 2:7); (3) “nurse-maid” (2 Sam 4:4; Ruth 4:16); and (4) “to look after” (Isa 60:4; Lam 4:5). Older lexicons did not distinguish this root from the homonym I אָמַן (’aman, “to support; to confirm”; cf. BDB 52 s.v. אָמַן). This is reflected in a number of translations by use of a phrase like “brought up” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NIV) or “bringing up” (NASB).

[2:7]  ²² sn Hadassah is a Jewish name that probably means “myrtle”; the name Esther probably derives from the Persian word for “star,” although some scholars derive it from the name of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Esther is not the only biblical character for whom two different names were used. Daniel (renamed Belteshazzar) and his three friends Hananiah (renamed Shadrach), Mishael (renamed Meshach), and Azariah (renamed Abednego) were also given different names by their captors.

[2:7]  ²³ tn Heb “for there was not to her father or mother.” This is universally understood to mean Esther’s father and mother were no longer alive.

[2:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “beautiful of form.” The Hebrew noun תֹּאַר (to’ar, “form; shape”) is used elsewhere to describe the physical bodily shape of a beautiful woman (Gen 29:17; Deut 21:11; 1 Sam 25:3); see BDB 1061 s.v. Cf. TEV “had a good figure.”

[2:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “had taken her to him.” The Hebrew verb לָקַח (laqakh, “to take”) describes Mordecai adopting Esther and treating her like his own daughter: “to take as one’s own property” as a daughter (HALOT 534 s.v. I לקח 6).