2:21 In those days while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan 1 and Teresh, 2 two of the king’s eunuchs who protected the entrance, 3 became angry and plotted to assassinate 4 King Ahasuerus.
1 tn This individual is referred to as “Bigthana,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 6:2.
2 tc The LXX does not include the names “Bigthan and Teresh” here.
3 tn Heb “guarders of the threshold”; NIV “who guarded the doorway.”
4 tn Heb “sought to send a hand against”; CEV “decided to kill.”
5 tn Heb “runners.” So also in 8:10, 14. Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “couriers.”
6 tn Or “went forth in haste” (so ASV).
7 tn Heb “with the word of the king.”
8 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.
9 sn As much as half the kingdom. Such a statement would no doubt have been understood for the exaggeration that it clearly was. Cf. the similar NT scene recorded in Mark 6:23, where Herod makes a similar promise to the daughter of Herodias. In that case the request was for the head of John the Baptist, which is a lot less than half the kingdom.