6:1 Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep, 19 so he asked for the book containing the historical records 20 to be brought. As the records 21 were being read in the king’s presence, 6:2 it was found written that Mordecai had disclosed that Bigthana 22 and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, had plotted to assassinate 23 King Ahasuerus.
6:3 The king asked, “What great honor 24 was bestowed on Mordecai because of this?” The king’s attendants who served him responded, “Not a thing was done for him.”
6:4 Then the king said, “Who is that in the courtyard?” Now Haman had come to the outer courtyard of the palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had constructed for him.
7:3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have met with your approval, 25 O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition.
8:1 On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate 28 of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her.
1 tn These words are not present in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV, NLT, all of which supply similar phrases).
2 tc The location of the prepositional phrase “according to law” is somewhat unusual in the Hebrew text, but not so much so as to require emendation. Some scholars suggest deleting the phrase as an instance of dittography from the final part of the immediately preceding word in v. 14. Others suggest taking the phrase with the end of v. 14 rather than with v. 15. Both proposals, however, lack adequate justification.
3 tn Heb “who is good in the eyes of the king.”
4 tn Heb “the matter was good in the eyes of the king.” Cf. TEV “The king thought this was good advice.”
5 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
6 sn Jeconiah is an alternative name for Jehoiachin. A number of modern English versions use the latter name to avoid confusion (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).
7 tn Heb “they both were hanged.” The referent (the two eunuchs who conspired against the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Or “on a pole”; KJV, ASV “on a tree.”
9 tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.”
10 tn Heb “let it be written” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “let it be decreed.”
11 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.
12 tn Heb “runners.” So also in 8:10, 14. Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “couriers.”
13 tn Or “went forth in haste” (so ASV).
14 tn Heb “with the word of the king.”
15 sn The city of Susa was in an uproar. This final statement of v. 15 is a sad commentary on the pathetic disregard of despots for the human misery and suffering that they sometimes inflict on those who are helpless to resist their power. Here, while common people braced for the reckless loss of life and property that was about to begin, the perpetrators went about their mundane activities as though nothing of importance was happening.
16 tn Heb “she obtained grace in his eyes”; NASB “she obtained favor in his sight”; NIV “he was pleased with her”; NLT “he welcomed her.”
17 tn Heb “the glory of his riches” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “the splendor of his riches.”
18 sn According to Esth 9:10 Haman had ten sons.
19 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.
20 tn Heb “the book of the remembrances of the accounts of the days”; NAB “the chronicle of notable events.”
21 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the records) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 tn This individual is referred to as “Bigthan,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 2:21.
23 tn Heb “to send a hand against”; NASB “had sought to lay hands on.”
24 tn Heb “honor and greatness.” The expression is a hendiadys (see the note on 5:10 for an explanation of this figure).
25 tn Heb “If I have found grace in your eyes” (so also in 8:5); TEV “If it please Your Majesty.”
26 sn There is great irony here in that the man who set out to destroy all the Jews now finds himself begging for his own life from a Jew.
27 tn Heb “for he saw that calamity was determined for him from the king”; NAB “the king had decided on his doom”; NRSV “the king had determined to destroy him.”
28 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV; also in vv. 2, 7). Cf. TEV “all the property.”
29 tn Heb “He”; the referent (Mordecai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.