Esther 3:5

3:5 When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing or paying homage to him, he ¹  was filled with rage.

Esther 7:10

7:10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.

Esther 1:12

1:12 But Queen Vashti refused ²  to come at the king’s bidding ³  conveyed through the eunuchs. Then the king became extremely angry, and his rage consumed ⁴  him.

Esther 2:1

Esther Becomes Queen in Vashti’s Place

2:1 When these things had been accomplished ⁵  and the rage of King Ahasuerus had diminished, he remembered ⁶  Vashti and what she had done and what had been decided ⁷  against her.

Esther 5:9

Haman Expresses His Hatred of Mordecai

5:9 Now Haman went forth that day pleased and very much encouraged. ⁸  But when Haman saw Mordecai at the king’s gate, and he did not rise nor tremble in his presence, ⁹  Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.

Esther 7:7

7:7 In rage the king arose from the banquet of wine and withdrew to the palace garden. Meanwhile, Haman stood to beg Queen Esther for his life, ¹⁰  for he realized that the king had now determined a catastrophic end for him. ¹¹ 

[3:5]  ¹ tn Heb “Haman.” The pronoun (“he”) was used in the translation for stylistic reasons. Repeating the proper name here is redundant according to contemporary English style, although the name is repeated in NASB and NRSV.

[1:12]  ² sn Refusal to obey the king was risky even for a queen in the ancient world. It is not clear why Vashti behaved so rashly and put herself in such danger. Apparently she anticipated humiliation of some kind and was unwilling to subject herself to it, in spite of the obvious dangers. There is no justification in the biblical text for an ancient Jewish targumic tradition that the king told her to appear before his guests dressed in nothing but her royal high turban, that is, essentially naked.

[1:12]  ³ tn Heb “at the word of the king”; NASB “at the king’s command.”

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “burned in him” (so KJV).

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “after these things” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The expression is very vague from a temporal standpoint, not indicating precisely just how much time might have elapsed. Cf. v. 21.

[2:1]  ⁴ sn There may be a tinge of regret expressed in the king’s remembrance of Vashti. There is perhaps a hint that he wished for her presence once again, although that was not feasible from a practical standpoint. The suggestions by the king’s attendants concerning a replacement seem to be an effort to overcome this nostalgia. Certainly it was to their advantage to seek the betterment of the king’s outlook. Those around him the most were probably the most likely to suffer the effects of his ire.

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Or “decreed” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); TEV “and about his proclamation against her.”

[5:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “happy and good of heart”; NASB “glad and pleased of heart”; NIV “happy and in high spirits.”

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

[7:7]  ⁵ sn There is great irony here in that the man who set out to destroy all the Jews now finds himself begging for his own life from a Jew.

[7:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “for he saw that calamity was determined for him from the king”; NAB “the king had decided on his doom”; NRSV “the king had determined to destroy him.”