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 6:13

6:13 Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men, ³  along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish, ⁴  you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”

Esther 7:8

7:8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down ⁵  on the couch where Esther was lying. ⁶  The king exclaimed, “Will he also attempt to rape the queen while I am still in the building!”

As these words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

Esther 9:22

9:22 as the time when the Jews gave themselves rest from their enemies – the month when their trouble was turned to happiness and their mourning to a holiday. These were to be days of banqueting, happiness, sending gifts to one another, and providing for the poor.

Esther 9:27

9:27 Therefore, because of the account found in this letter and what they had faced in this regard and what had happened to them, the Jews established as binding on themselves, their descendants, and all who joined their company that they should observe these two days without fail, just as written and at the appropriate time on an annual basis.

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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 tc Part of the Greek tradition and the Syriac Peshitta understand this word as “friends,” probably reading the Hebrew term רֲכָמָיו (rakhamayv, “his friends”) rather than the reading of the MT חֲכָמָיו (hakhamayv, “his wise men”). Cf. NLT “all his friends”; the two readings appear to be conflated by TEV as “those wise friends of his.”

⁴ tn Heb “from the seed of the Jews”; KJV, ASV similar.

⁵ tn Heb “falling”; NAB, NRSV “had (+ just TEV) thrown himself (+ down TEV).”

⁶ tn Heb “where Esther was” (so KJV, NASB). The term “lying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “was reclining.”