Esther 5:6

5:6 While at the banquet of wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your request? It shall be given to you. What is your petition? Ask for as much as half the kingdom, ¹  and it shall be done!”

Esther 7:2

7:2 On the second day of the banquet of wine the king asked Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your petition? Ask up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done!”

Esther 9:12

9:12 Then the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman! What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? What is your request? It shall be given to you. What other petition do you have? It shall be done.”

Esther 9:1

The Jews Prevail over Their Enemies

9:1 In the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), on its thirteenth day, the edict of the king and his law were to be executed. It was on this day that the enemies of the Jews had supposed that they would gain power over them. But contrary to expectations, the Jews gained power over their enemies.

Esther 2:20

2:20 Esther was still not divulging her lineage or her people, ²  just as Mordecai had instructed her. ³  Esther continued to do whatever Mordecai said, just as she had done when he was raising her.

Esther 3:5

3:5 When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing or paying homage to him, he ⁴  was filled with rage.

Matthew 20:20-22

A Request for James and John

20:20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling down she asked him for a favor. ⁵  20:21 He said to her, “What do you want?” She replied, ⁶  “Permit ⁷  these two sons of mine to sit, one at your ⁸  right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 20:22 Jesus ⁹  answered, “You don’t know what you are asking! ¹⁰  Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” ¹¹  They said to him, “We are able.” ¹² 

Luke 18:41

18:41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, ¹³  “Lord, let me see again.” ¹⁴ 

[5:6]  ¹ sn As much as half the kingdom. Such a statement would no doubt have been understood for the exaggeration that it clearly was. Cf. the similar NT scene recorded in Mark 6:23, where Herod makes a similar promise to the daughter of Herodias. In that case the request was for the head of John the Baptist, which is a lot less than half the kingdom.

[2:20]  ² sn That Esther was able so effectively to conceal her Jewish heritage suggests that she was not consistently observing Jewish dietary and religious requirements. As C. A. Moore observes, “In order for Esther to have concealed her ethnic and religious identity…in the harem, she must have eaten…, dressed, and lived like a Persian rather than an observant Jewess” (Esther [AB], 28.) In this regard her public behavior stands in contrast to that of Daniel, for example.

[2:20]  ³ tc The LXX adds the words “to fear God.”

[3:5]  ⁴ 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.

[20:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “asked something from him.”

[20:21]  ⁶ tn Grk “said to him.”

[20:21]  ⁷ tn Grk “Say that.”

[20:21]  ⁸ tc A majority of witnesses read σου (sou, “your”) here, perhaps for clarification. At the same time, it is possible that the pronoun dropped out through haplography or was excised because of perceived redundancy (there are two other such pronouns in the verse) by א B. Either way, the translation adds it due to the requirements of English style. NA²⁷ includes σου here.

[20:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[20:22]  ¹⁰ tn The verbs in Greek are plural here, indicating that Jesus is not answering the mother but has turned his attention directly to the two disciples.

[20:22]  ¹¹ tc Most mss (C W 33 Ï, as well as some versional and patristic authorities) in addition have “or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” But this is surely due to a recollection of the fuller version of this dominical saying found in Mark 10:38. The same mss also have the Lord’s response, “and you will be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized” in v. 23, again due to the parallel in Mark 10:39. The shorter reading, in both v. 22 and v. 23, is to be preferred both because it better explains the rise of the other reading and is found in superior witnesses (א B D L Z Θ 085 Ë^1,13 pc lat, as well as other versional and patristic authorities).

[20:22]  ¹² sn No more naïve words have ever been spoken as those found here coming from James and John, “We are able.” They said it with such confidence and ease, yet they had little clue as to what they were affirming. In the next sentence Jesus confirms that they will indeed suffer for his name.

[18:41]  ¹³ tn Grk “said.”

[18:41]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Lord, that I may see [again].” The phrase can be rendered as an imperative of request, “Please, give me sight.” Since the man is not noted as having been blind from birth (as the man in John 9 was) it is likely the request is to receive back the sight he once had.