Esther 4:10

4:10 Then Esther replied to Hathach with instructions for Mordecai:

Esther 4:15

4:15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:

Esther 5:7

5:7 Esther responded, ¹  “My request and my petition is this:

Esther 2:22

2:22 When Mordecai learned of the conspiracy, ²  he informed Queen Esther, ³  and Esther told the king in Mordecai’s behalf. ⁴ 

Esther 5:4

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

Esther 7:6

7:6 Esther replied, “The oppressor and enemy is this evil Haman!”

Then Haman became terrified in the presence of the king and queen.

Esther 5:14

5:14 Haman’s ⁶  wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet ⁷  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.” ⁸ 

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

Esther 7:3

7:3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have met with your approval, ⁹  O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition.

Esther 9:13

9:13 Esther replied, “If the king is so inclined, let the Jews who are in Susa be permitted to act tomorrow also according to today’s law, and let them hang the ten sons of Haman on the gallows.”

Esther 8:5

8:5 She said, “If the king is so inclined and if I have met with his approval and if the matter is agreeable to the king and if I am attractive to him, let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, ¹⁰  which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king’s provinces.

[5:7]  ¹ tn Heb “answered and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[2:22]  ¹ sn The text of Esther does not disclose exactly how Mordecai learned about the plot against the king’s life. Ancient Jewish traditions state that Mordecai overheard conspiratorial conversation, or that an informant brought this information to him, or that it came to him as a result of divine prompting. These conjectures are all without adequate support from the biblical text. The author simply does not tell the source of Mordecai’s insight into this momentous event.

[2:22]  ² tc The LXX simply reads “Esther” and does not include “the queen.”

[2:22]  ³ tc The LXX adds here “the things concerning the plot.”

[5:4]  ¹ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; NASB “If it please the king.”

[5:14]  ¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:14]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “joyful”; NRSV “in good spirits”; TEV “happy.”

[7:3]  ¹ tn Heb “If I have found grace in your eyes” (so also in 8:5); TEV “If it please Your Majesty.”

[8:5]  ¹ tc The LXX does not include the expression “the Agagite.”