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!”

John 16:24

16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive it, ²  so that your joy may be complete.

[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.

[16:24]  ² tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.