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 2:8-9

2:8 It so happened that when the king’s edict and his law became known ⁵  many young women were taken to Susa the citadel to be placed under the authority of Hegai. Esther also was taken to the royal palace ⁶  to be under the authority of Hegai, who was overseeing the women. 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 

Esther 7:8

7:8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down ¹⁰  on the couch where Esther was lying. ¹¹  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.

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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 “were heard” (so NASB); NRSV “were (had been NIV) proclaimed.”

⁶ tn Heb “the house of the king.” So also in vv. 9, 13. Cf. NLT “the king’s harem.”

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.

¹⁰ tn Heb “falling”; NAB, NRSV “had (+ just TEV) thrown himself (+ down TEV).”

¹¹ 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.”