Esther 1:5

1:5 When those days ¹  were completed, the king then provided a seven-day ²  banquet for all the people who were present ³  in Susa the citadel, for those of highest standing to the most lowly. ⁴  It was held in the court located in the garden of the royal palace.

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 ⁵  and had the most prominent offices ⁶  in the kingdom.

Esther 2:9

2:9 This young woman pleased him, ⁷  and she found favor with him. He quickly provided her with her cosmetics and her rations; he also provided her with the seven specially chosen ⁸  young women who were from the palace. He then transferred her and her young women to the best quarters in the harem. ⁹ 

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¹ tc The Hebrew text of Esther does not indicate why this elaborate show of wealth and power was undertaken. According to the LXX these were “the days of the wedding” (αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ γάμου, Jai Jhmerai tou gamou), presumably the king’s wedding. However, a number of scholars have called attention to the fact that this celebration takes place just shortly before Xerxes’ invasion of Greece. It is possible that the banquet was a rallying for the up-coming military effort. See Herodotus, Histories 7.8. There is no reason to adopt the longer reading of the LXX here.

² tc The LXX has ἕξ ({ex, “six”) instead of “seven.” Virtually all English versions follow the reading of the MT here, “seven.”

³ tn Heb “were found.”

⁴ tn Heb “from the great and unto the small.”

⁵ tn Heb “seers of the face of the king”; NASB “who had access to the king’s presence.”

⁶ tn Heb “were sitting first”; NAB “held first rank in the realm.”

⁷ tn Heb “was good in his eyes”; NLT “Hegai was very impressed with Esther.”

⁸ tn Heb “being looked at (with favor).”

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