Esther 8:6

8:6 For how can I watch the calamity that will befall my people, and how can I watch the destruction of my relatives?” ¹ 

Esther 4:7

4:7 Then Mordecai related to him everything that had happened to him, even the specific amount of money that Haman had offered to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed.

Esther 9:5

9:5 The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, bringing death and destruction, and they did as they pleased with their enemies.

Esther 4:8

4:8 He also gave him a written copy of the law that had been disseminated ²  in Susa for their destruction so that he could show it to Esther and talk to her about it. He also gave instructions that she should go to the king to implore him and petition him on behalf of her people.

Esther 7:4

7:4 For we have been sold ³  – both I and my people – to destruction and to slaughter and to annihilation! If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king.”

Esther 9:24

9:24 For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised plans against the Jews to destroy them. He had cast pur (that is, the lot) in order to afflict and destroy them.

Esther 3:9

3:9 If the king is so inclined, ⁴  let an edict be issued ⁵  to destroy them. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver ⁶  to be conveyed to the king’s treasuries for the officials who carry out this business.”

Esther 9:2

9:2 The Jews assembled themselves in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike out against those who were seeking their harm. No one was able to stand before them, for dread of them fell on all the peoples.

Esther 3:13

3:13 Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that ⁷  they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, ⁸  on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day ⁹  of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.

Esther 4:14

4:14 “Don’t imagine that because you are part of the king’s household you will be the one Jew ¹⁰  who will escape. If you keep quiet at this time, liberation and protection for the Jews will appear ¹¹  from another source, ¹²  while you and your father’s household perish. It may very well be ¹³  that you have achieved royal status ¹⁴  for such a time as this!”

Esther 8:11

8:11 The king thereby allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and to stand up for themselves – to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any army of whatever people or province that should become their adversaries, including their women and children, ¹⁵  and to confiscate their property.

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, ¹⁶  which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king’s provinces.

[8:6]  ¹ tn Heb “my kindred” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB “my race”; NIV “my family”; NLT “my people and my family.”

[4:8]  ² tn Heb “given” (so KJV); NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT “issued”; NIV “published”; NAB “promulgated.”

[7:4]  ³ sn The passive verb (“have been sold”) is noncommittal and nonaccusatory with regard to the king’s role in the decision to annihilate the Jews.

[3:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.”

[3:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “let it be written” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “let it be decreed.”

[3:9]  ⁶ sn The enormity of the monetary sum referred to here can be grasped by comparing this amount (10,000 talents of silver) to the annual income of the empire, which according to Herodotus (Histories 3.95) was 14,500 Euboic talents. In other words Haman is offering the king a bribe equal to two-thirds of the royal income. Doubtless this huge sum of money was to come (in large measure) from the anticipated confiscation of Jewish property and assets once the Jews had been destroyed. That such a large sum of money is mentioned may indicate something of the economic standing of the Jewish population in the empire of King Ahasuerus.

[3:13]  ⁵ tn The words “stating that” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “children and women.” The translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.

[3:13]  ⁷ tc The LXX does not include the words “on the thirteenth day.”

[4:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “from all the Jews”; KJV “more than all the Jews”; NIV “you alone of all the Jews.”

[4:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “stand”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT “arise.”

[4:14]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “And who knows whether” (so NASB). The question is one of hope, but free of presumption. Cf. Jonah 3:9.

[4:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “have come to the kingdom”; NRSV “to royal dignity”; NIV “to royal position”; NLT “have been elevated to the palace.”

[8:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “children and women.” As in 3:13, the translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.

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