Esther 3:6

3:6 But the thought of striking out against 1  Mordecai alone was repugnant to him, for he had been informed 2  of the identity of Mordecai’s people. 3  So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews (that is, the people of Mordecai) 4  who were in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Esther 6:13

6:13 Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men, 5  along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish, 6  you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”

Esther 9:2

9:2 The Jews assembled themselves in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike out against those who were seeking their harm. No one was able to stand before them, for dread of them fell on all the peoples.

Esther 9:25

9:25 But when the matter came to the king’s attention, the king 7  gave written orders that Haman’s 8  evil intentions that he had devised against the Jews should fall on his own head. He and his sons were hanged on the gallows.

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

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

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

4 tc 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.

5 tc Part of the Greek tradition and the Syriac Peshitta understand this word as “friends,” probably reading the Hebrew term רֲכָמָיו (rakhamayv, “his friends”) rather than the reading of the MT חֲכָמָיו (hakhamayv, “his wise men”). Cf. NLT “all his friends”; the two readings appear to be conflated by TEV as “those wise friends of his.”

6 tn Heb “from the seed of the Jews”; KJV, ASV similar.

7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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