Esther 1:14

1:14 Those who were closest to him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan. These men were the seven officials of Persia and Media who saw the king on a regular basis ¹  and had the most prominent offices ²  in the kingdom.

Esther 1:19

1:19 If the king is so inclined, ³  let a royal edict go forth from him, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media that cannot be repealed, ⁴  that Vashti ⁵  may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king convey her royalty to another ⁶  who is more deserving than she. ⁷ 

Esther 2:3

2:3 And let the king appoint officers throughout all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the attractive young women to Susa the citadel, to the harem ⁸  under the authority of Hegai, the king’s eunuch who oversees the women, and let him provide whatever cosmetics they desire. ⁹ 

Esther 3:2

3:2 As a result, ¹⁰  all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate were bowing and paying homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded. However, Mordecai did not bow, ¹¹  nor did he pay him homage.

Esther 3:4

3:4 And after they had spoken to him day after day ¹²  without his paying any attention to them, they informed Haman to see whether this attitude on Mordecai’s part would be permitted. ¹³  Furthermore, he had disclosed to them that he was a Jew. ¹⁴ 

Esther 3:6

3:6 But the thought of striking out against ¹⁵  Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed ¹⁶  of the identity of Mordecai’s people. ¹⁷  So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai) ¹⁸  who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Esther 5:14

5:14 Haman’s ¹⁹  wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet ²⁰  high built, and in the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it. Then go with the king to the banquet contented.” ²¹ 

It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.

Esther 7:9

7:9 Harbona, ²²  one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is seventy-five feet ²³  high.”

The king said, “Hang him on it!”

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¹ tn Heb “seers of the face of the king”; NASB “who had access to the king’s presence.”

² tn Heb “were sitting first”; NAB “held first rank in the realm.”

³ sn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.” Deferential language was common in ancient Near Eastern court language addressing a despot; it occurs often in Esther.

⁴ sn Laws…that cannot be repealed. On the permanence of the laws of Media and Persia see also Esth 8:8 and Dan 6:8, 12, 15.

⁵ sn Previously in this chapter the word “queen” accompanies Vashti’s name (cf. vv. 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17). But here, in anticipation of her demotion, the title is dropped.

⁶ tn Heb “her neighbor”; NIV “someone else.”

⁷ tn Heb “who is better than she.” The reference is apparently to worthiness of the royal position as demonstrated by compliance with the king’s wishes, although the word טוֹב (tob, “good”) can also be used of physical beauty. Cf. NAB, NASB, NLT “more worthy than she.”

⁸ tn Heb “the house of the women” (so KJV, ASV). So also in vv. 9, 11, 13, and 14.

⁹ tn Heb “their ointments”; cf. NIV, CEV, NLT “beauty treatments.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

¹¹ sn Mordecai did not bow. The reason for Mordecai’s refusal to bow before Haman is not clearly stated here. Certainly the Jews did not refuse to bow as a matter of principle, as though such an action somehow violated the second command of the Decalogue. Many biblical texts bear witness to their practice of falling prostrate before people of power and influence (e.g., 1 Sam 24:8; 2 Sam 14:4; 1 Kgs 1:16). Perhaps the issue here was that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, a people who had attacked Israel in an earlier age (see Exod 17:8-16; 1 Sam 15:17-20; Deut 25:17-19).

¹² sn Mordecai’s position in the service of the king brought him into regular contact with these royal officials. Because of this association the officials would have found ample opportunity to complain of Mordecai’s refusal to honor Haman by bowing down before him.

¹³ tn Heb “Will the matters of Mordecai stand?”; NASB “to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand.”

¹⁴ sn This disclosure of Jewish identity is a reversal of the practice mentioned in 1:10, 20.

¹⁵ tn Heb “to send a hand against”; KJV, NRSV “to lay hands on.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “they had related to him.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a passive construction.

¹⁷ tc The entire first half of the verse is not included in the LXX.

¹⁸ tc This parenthetical phrase is not included in the LXX. Some scholars emend the MT reading עַם (’am, “people”) to עִם (’im, “with”), arguing that the phrase is awkwardly placed and syntactically inappropriate. While there is some truth to their complaint, the MT makes sufficient sense to be acceptable here, and is followed by most English versions.

¹⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁰ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” Assuming a standard length for the cubit of about 18 inches (45 cm), this would be about seventy-five feet (22.5 meters), which is a surprisingly tall height for the gallows. Perhaps the number assumes the gallows was built on a large supporting platform or a natural hill for visual effect, in which case the structure itself may have been considerably smaller. Cf. NCV “a seventy-five foot platform”; CEV “a tower built about seventy-five feet high.”

²¹ tn Or “joyful”; NRSV “in good spirits”; TEV “happy.”

²² sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.

²³ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.