Esther 2:17

2:17 And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she met with his loving approval ¹  more than all the other young women. ²  So he placed the royal high turban on her head and appointed her queen ³  in place of Vashti.

Esther 5:14

5:14 Haman’s ⁴  wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet ⁵  high built, and in the morning tell the king that Mordecai should be hanged on it. Then go with the king to the banquet contented.” ⁶ 

It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.

Esther 7:9

7:9 Harbona, ⁷  one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out in the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is seventy-five feet ⁸  high.”

The king said, “Hang him on it!”

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¹ tn Heb “grace and loyal love.” The expression is probably a hendiadys.

² tc The LXX does not include the words “more than all the other young women.”

³ tn Heb “caused her to rule.”

⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” Assuming a standard length for the cubit of about 18 inches (45 cm), this would be about seventy-five feet (22.5 meters), which is a surprisingly tall height for the gallows. Perhaps the number assumes the gallows was built on a large supporting platform or a natural hill for visual effect, in which case the structure itself may have been considerably smaller. Cf. NCV “a seventy-five foot platform”; CEV “a tower built about seventy-five feet high.”

⁶ tn Or “joyful”; NRSV “in good spirits”; TEV “happy.”

⁷ sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.

⁸ tn Heb “fifty cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.