Esther 3:4

3:4 And after they had spoken to him day after day¹ without his paying any attention to them, they informed Haman to see whether this attitude on Mordecai’s part would be permitted.² Furthermore, he had disclosed to them that he was a Jew.³

Esther 3:6

3:6 But the thought of striking out against⁴ Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed⁵ of the identity of Mordecai’s people.⁶ So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai)⁷ who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Esther 4:4

4:4 When Esther’s female attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her about Mordecai’s behavior,⁸ the queen was overcome with anguish. Although she sent garments for Mordecai to put on so that he could remove his sackcloth, he would not accept them.

¹sn Mordecai’s position in the service of the king brought him into regular contact with these royal officials. Because of this association the officials would have found ample opportunity to complain of Mordecai’s refusal to honor Haman by bowing down before him.

²tn Heb “Will the matters of Mordecai stand?”; NASB “to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand.”

³sn This disclosure of Jewish identity is a reversal of the practice mentioned in 1:10, 20.

⁴tn Heb “to send a hand against”; KJV, NRSV “to lay hands on.”

⁵tn Heb “they had related to him.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a passive construction.

⁶tc The entire first half of the verse is not included in the LXX.

⁷tc This parenthetical phrase is not included in the LXX. Some scholars emend the MT reading עַם (’am, “people”) to עִם (’im, “with”), arguing that the phrase is awkwardly placed and syntactically inappropriate. While there is some truth to their complaint, the MT makes sufficient sense to be acceptable here, and is followed by most English versions.

⁸tn The words “about Mordecai’s behavior” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in translation for the sake of clarity. Cf. NIV, NLT “about Mordecai”; TEV, CEV “what Mordecai was doing.”