Esther 6:1-2

The Turning Point: The King Honors Mordecai

6:1 Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep, ¹  so he asked for the book containing the historical records ²  to be brought. As the records ³  were being read in the king’s presence, 6:2 it was found written that Mordecai had disclosed that Bigthana ⁴  and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, had plotted to assassinate ⁵  King Ahasuerus.

Malachi 3:16

3:16 Then those who respected ⁶  the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. ⁷  A scroll ⁸  was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name.

[6:1]  ¹ tn Heb “and the sleep of the king fled.” In place of the rather innocuous comment of the Hebrew text, the LXX reads here, “And the Lord removed the sleep from the king.” The Greek text thus understands the statement in a more overtly theological way than does the Hebrew text, although even in the Hebrew text there may be a hint of God’s providence at work in this matter. After all, this event is crucial to the later reversal of Haman’s plot to destroy the Jewish people, and a sympathetic reader is likely to look beyond the apparent coincidence.

[6:1]  ² tn Heb “the book of the remembrances of the accounts of the days”; NAB “the chronicle of notable events.”

[6:1]  ³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the records) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:2]  ⁴ tn This individual is referred to as “Bigthan,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 2:21.

[6:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “to send a hand against”; NASB “had sought to lay hands on.”

[3:16]  ⁶ tn Or “fear” (so NAB); NRSV “revered”; NCV “honored.”

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “heard and listened”; NAB “listened attentively.”

[3:16]  ⁸ sn The scroll mentioned here is a “memory book” (סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן, sefer zikkaron) in which the Lord keeps an ongoing record of the names of all the redeemed (see Exod 32:32; Isa 4:3; Dan 12:1; Rev 20:12-15).