Esther 4:14

4:14 “Don’t imagine that because you are part of the king’s household you will be the one Jew ¹  who will escape. If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear ²  from another source, ³  while you and your father’s household perish. It may very well be ⁴  that you have achieved royal status ⁵  for such a time as this!”

Esther 5:8

5:8 If I have found favor in the king’s sight and if the king is inclined ⁶  to grant my request and perform my petition, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet that I will prepare for them. At that time ⁷  I will do as the king wishes. ⁸ 

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.

[4:14]  ¹ tn Heb “from all the Jews”; KJV “more than all the Jews”; NIV “you alone of all the Jews.”

[4:14]  ² tn Heb “stand”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT “arise.”

[4:14]  ³ tn Heb “place” (so KJV, NIV, NLT); NRSV “from another quarter.” This is probably an oblique reference to help coming from God. D. J. A. Clines disagrees; in his view a contrast between deliverance by Esther and deliverance by God is inappropriate (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther [NCBC], 302). But Clines’ suggestion that perhaps the reference is to deliverance by Jewish officials or by armed Jewish revolt is less attractive than seeing this veiled reference as part of the literary strategy of the book, which deliberately keeps God’s providential dealings entirely in the background.

[4:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “And who knows whether” (so NASB). The question is one of hope, but free of presumption. Cf. Jonah 3:9.

[4:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “have come to the kingdom”; NRSV “to royal dignity”; NIV “to royal position”; NLT “have been elevated to the palace.”

[5:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “if upon the king it is good.” Cf. the similar expression in v. 4, which also occurs in 7:3; 8:5; 9:13.

[5:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “and tomorrow” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “and then.”

[5:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will do according to the word of the king,” i.e., answer the question that he has posed. Cf. NCV “Then I will answer your question about what I want.”

[7:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “If I have found grace in your eyes” (so also in 8:5); TEV “If it please Your Majesty.”