Esther 1:19

1:19 If the king is so inclined, ¹  let a royal edict go forth from him, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media that cannot be repealed, ²  that Vashti ³  may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king convey her royalty to another ⁴  who is more deserving than she. ⁵ 

Esther 2:7

2:7 Now he was acting as the guardian ⁶  of Hadassah ⁷  (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, for neither her father nor her mother was alive. ⁸  This young woman was very attractive and had a beautiful figure. ⁹  When her father and mother died, Mordecai had raised her ¹⁰  as if she were his own daughter.

Esther 2:15

2:15 When it became the turn of Esther daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai (who had raised her as if she were his own daughter ¹¹ ) to go to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who was overseer of the women, had recommended. Yet Esther met with the approval of all who saw her.

Esther 4:16

4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I ¹²  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ¹³  If I perish, I perish!”

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, ¹⁴  along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish, ¹⁵  you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”

Esther 7:4

7:4 For we have been sold ¹⁶  – 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.”

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¹ 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.

² sn Laws…that cannot be repealed.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.

³ 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.

⁴ tn Heb “her neighbor”; NIV “someone else.”

⁵ 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.”

⁶ tn According to HALOT 64 s.v. II אמן the term אֹמֵן (’omen) means: (1) “attendant” of children (Num 11:12; Isa 49:23); (2) “guardian” (2 Kgs 10:1, 5; Esth 2:7); (3) “nurse-maid” (2 Sam 4:4; Ruth 4:16); and (4) “to look after” (Isa 60:4; Lam 4:5). Older lexicons did not distinguish this root from the homonym I אָמַן (’aman, “to support; to confirm”; cf. BDB 52 s.v. אָמַן). This is reflected in a number of translations by use of a phrase like “brought up” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NIV) or “bringing up” (NASB).

⁷ sn Hadassah is a Jewish name that probably means “myrtle”; the name Esther probably derives from the Persian word for “star,” although some scholars derive it from the name of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Esther is not the only biblical character for whom two different names were used. Daniel (renamed Belteshazzar) and his three friends Hananiah (renamed Shadrach), Mishael (renamed Meshach), and Azariah (renamed Abednego) were also given different names by their captors.

⁸ tn Heb “for there was not to her father or mother.” This is universally understood to mean Esther’s father and mother were no longer alive.

⁹ tn Heb “beautiful of form.” The Hebrew noun תֹּאַר (to’ar, “form; shape”) is used elsewhere to describe the physical bodily shape of a beautiful woman (Gen 29:17; Deut 21:11; 1 Sam 25:3); see BDB 1061 s.v. Cf. TEV “had a good figure.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “had taken her to him.” The Hebrew verb לָקַח (laqakh, “to take”) describes Mordecai adopting Esther and treating her like his own daughter: “to take as one’s own property” as a daughter (HALOT 534 s.v. I לקח 6).

¹¹ tn Heb “who had taken her to him as a daughter”; NRSV “who had adopted her as his own daughter.”

¹² tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

¹³ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”

¹⁴ 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.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “from the seed of the Jews”; KJV, ASV similar.

¹⁶ 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.