Esther 2:5

2:5 Now there happened to be a Jewish man in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai. ¹  He was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite,

Esther 3:15

3:15 The messengers ²  scurried forth ³  with the king’s order. ⁴  The edict was issued in Susa the citadel. While the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in an uproar! ⁵ 

Esther 8:14

8:14 The couriers who were riding the royal horses went forth with the king’s edict without delay. ⁶  And the law was presented in Susa the citadel as well.

Esther 1:5

1:5 When those days ⁷  were completed, the king then provided a seven-day ⁸  banquet for all the people who were present ⁹  in Susa the citadel, for those of highest standing to the most lowly. ¹⁰  It was held in the court located in the garden of the royal palace.

Esther 2:3

2:3 And let the king appoint officers throughout all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the attractive young women to Susa the citadel, to the harem ¹¹  under the authority of Hegai, the king’s eunuch who oversees the women, and let him provide whatever cosmetics they desire. ¹² 

Esther 2:8

2:8 It so happened that when the king’s edict and his law became known ¹³  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 ¹⁴  to be under the authority of Hegai, who was overseeing the women.

Esther 9:12

9:12 Then the king said to Queen Esther, “In Susa the citadel the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman! What then have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? What is your request? It shall be given to you. What other petition do you have? It shall be done.”

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¹ sn Mordecai is a pagan name that reflects the name of the Babylonian deity Marduk. Probably many Jews of the period had two names, one for secular use and the other for use especially within the Jewish community. Mordecai’s Jewish name is not recorded in the biblical text.

² tn Heb “runners.” So also in 8:10, 14. Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “couriers.”

³ tn Or “went forth in haste” (so ASV).

⁴ tn Heb “with the word of the king.”

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn Heb “making haste and hurrying”; KJV, ASV “being hastened and pressed.”

⁷ 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.

⁸ tc The LXX has ἕξ ({ex, “six”) instead of “seven.” Virtually all English versions follow the reading of the MT here, “seven.”

⁹ tn Heb “were found.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “from the great and unto the small.”

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

¹² tn Heb “their ointments”; cf. NIV, CEV, NLT “beauty treatments.”

¹³ tn Heb “were heard” (so NASB); NRSV “were (had been NIV) proclaimed.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “the house of the king.” So also in vv. 9, 13. Cf. NLT “the king’s harem.”