Discovery BoxEsther 1:11 
Context1:11 to bring Queen Vashti into the king’s presence wearing her royal high turban. He wanted to show the people and the officials her beauty, for she was very attractive. 1
Esther 1:20
Context1:20 And let the king’s decision which he will enact be disseminated 2 throughout all his kingdom, vast though it is. 3 Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the most prominent to the lowly.”
Esther 2:23
Context2:23 The king then had the matter investigated and, finding it to be so, had the two conspirators 4 hanged on a gallows. 5 It was then recorded in the daily chronicles in the king’s presence.
Esther 3:9
Context3:9 If the king is so inclined, 6 let an edict be issued 7 to destroy them. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver 8 to be conveyed to the king’s treasuries for the officials who carry out this business.”
Esther 3:15
Context3:15 The messengers 9 scurried forth 10 with the king’s order. 11 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! 12
Esther 4:3
Context4:3 Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced 13 there was considerable 14 mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow. 15 Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic 16 of many.
Esther 4:5
Context4:5 So Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been placed at her service, 17 and instructed him to find out the cause and reason for Mordecai’s behavior. 18
Esther 4:7
Context4:7 Then Mordecai related to him everything that had happened to him, even the specific amount of money that Haman had offered to pay to the king’s treasuries for the Jews to be destroyed.
Esther 5:9
Context5:9 Now Haman went forth that day pleased and very much encouraged. 19 But when Haman saw Mordecai at the king’s gate, and he did not rise nor tremble in his presence, 20 Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.
Esther 5:11
Context5:11 Haman then recounted to them his fabulous wealth, 21 his many sons, 22 and how the king had magnified him and exalted him over the king’s other officials and servants.
Esther 6:1-3
Context6:1 Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep, 23 so he asked for the book containing the historical records 24 to be brought. As the records 25 were being read in the king’s presence, 6:2 it was found written that Mordecai had disclosed that Bigthana 26 and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, had plotted to assassinate 27 King Ahasuerus.
6:3 The king asked, “What great honor 28 was bestowed on Mordecai because of this?” The king’s attendants who served him responded, “Not a thing was done for him.”
Esther 8:10
Context8:10 Mordecai 29 wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He then sent letters by couriers on horses, who rode royal horses that were very swift.
Esther 8:14-15
Context8:14 The couriers who were riding the royal horses went forth with the king’s edict without delay. 30 And the law was presented in Susa the citadel as well.
8:15 Now Mordecai went out from the king’s presence in purple and white royal attire, with a large golden crown and a purple linen mantle. The city of Susa shouted with joy. 31
Esther 9:3-4
Context9:3 All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and those who performed the king’s business were assisting the Jews, for the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them. 9:4 Mordecai was of high rank 32 in the king’s palace, and word about him was spreading throughout all the provinces. His influence 33 continued to become greater and greater.
1 tn Heb “was good of appearance”; KJV “was fair to look on”; NAB “was lovely to behold.”
2 tn Heb “heard”; KJV, NAB, NLT “published”; NIV, NRSV “proclaimed.”
3 tc The phrase “vast though it is” is not included in the LXX, although it is retained by almost all English versions.
4 tn Heb “they both were hanged.” The referent (the two eunuchs who conspired against the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Or “on a pole”; KJV, ASV “on a tree.”
6 tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.”
7 tn Heb “let it be written” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “let it be decreed.”
8 sn The enormity of the monetary sum referred to here can be grasped by comparing this amount (10,000 talents of silver) to the annual income of the empire, which according to Herodotus (Histories 3.95) was 14,500 Euboic talents. In other words Haman is offering the king a bribe equal to two-thirds of the royal income. Doubtless this huge sum of money was to come (in large measure) from the anticipated confiscation of Jewish property and assets once the Jews had been destroyed. That such a large sum of money is mentioned may indicate something of the economic standing of the Jewish population in the empire of King Ahasuerus.
9 tn Heb “runners.” So also in 8:10, 14. Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “couriers.”
10 tn Or “went forth in haste” (so ASV).
11 tn Heb “with the word of the king.”
12 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.
13 tn Heb “reached” (so NAB, NLT); KJV, NASB, NIV “came”; TEV “wherever the king’s proclamation was made known.”
14 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the Jews went into deep mourning.”
15 sn Although prayer is not specifically mentioned here, it is highly unlikely that appeals to God for help were not a part of this reaction to devastating news. As elsewhere in the book of Esther, the writer seems deliberately to keep religious actions in the background.
16 tn Heb “were spread to many”; KJV, NIV “many (+ people NLT) lay in sackcloth and ashes.”
17 tn Heb “whom he caused to stand before her”; NASB “whom the king had appointed to attend her.”
18 tn Heb “concerning Mordecai, to know what this was, and why this was.”
19 tn Heb “happy and good of heart”; NASB “glad and pleased of heart”; NIV “happy and in high spirits.”
20 tn Heb “tremble from before him”; NIV “nor showed fear in his presence”; TEV “or show any sign of respect as he passed.”
21 tn Heb “the glory of his riches” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “the splendor of his riches.”
22 sn According to Esth 9:10 Haman had ten sons.
23 tn Heb “and the sleep of the king fled.” In place of the rather innocuous comment of the Hebrew text, the LXX reads here, “And the Lord removed the sleep from the king.” The Greek text thus understands the statement in a more overtly theological way than does the Hebrew text, although even in the Hebrew text there may be a hint of God’s providence at work in this matter. After all, this event is crucial to the later reversal of Haman’s plot to destroy the Jewish people, and a sympathetic reader is likely to look beyond the apparent coincidence.
24 tn Heb “the book of the remembrances of the accounts of the days”; NAB “the chronicle of notable events.”
25 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the records) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn This individual is referred to as “Bigthan,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 2:21.
27 tn Heb “to send a hand against”; NASB “had sought to lay hands on.”
28 tn Heb “honor and greatness.” The expression is a hendiadys (see the note on 5:10 for an explanation of this figure).
29 tn Heb “He”; the referent (Mordecai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
30 tn Heb “making haste and hurrying”; KJV, ASV “being hastened and pressed.”
31 tn Heb “shouted and rejoiced.” The expression is a hendiadys (see the note on 5:10 for an explanation of this figure).
32 tn Heb “great”; NRSV “powerful”; NIV “prominent”; NCV “very important.”
33 tn Heb “the man Mordecai” (so NASB, NRSV).
