Esther 5:11-14

5:11 Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth,¹ his many sons,² and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king’s other officials and servants. 5:12 Haman said, “Furthermore, Queen Esther invited³ only me to accompany the king to the banquet that she prepared! And also tomorrow I am invited⁴ along with the king. 5:13 Yet all of this fails to satisfy me so long as I have to see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

5:14 Haman’s⁵ wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet⁶ 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.”⁷

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

¹tn Heb “the glory of his riches” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “the splendor of his riches.”

²sn According to Esth 9:10 Haman had ten sons.

³tn Heb “caused to come”; KJV “did let no man come in…but myself.”

⁴tn Heb “called to her”; KJV “invited unto her”; NAB “I am to be her guest.”

⁵tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶tn 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.”

⁷tn Or “joyful”; NRSV “in good spirits”; TEV “happy.”