Discovery BoxEsther 1:16 
Context1:16 Memucan then replied to the king and the officials, “The wrong of Queen Vashti is not against the king alone, but against all the officials and all the people who are throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.
Esther 1:20
Context1:20 And let the king’s decision which he will enact be disseminated 1 throughout all his kingdom, vast though it is. 2 Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the most prominent to the lowly.”
Esther 3:14
Context3:14 A copy of this edict was to be presented as law throughout every province; it was to be made known to all the inhabitants, 3 so that they would be prepared for this day.
Esther 4:3
Context4:3 Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced 4 there was considerable 5 mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow. 6 Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic 7 of many.
Esther 6:1
Context6:1 Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep, 8 so he asked for the book containing the historical records 9 to be brought. As the records 10 were being read in the king’s presence,
Esther 8:12-13
Context8:12 This was to take place on a certain day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus – namely, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar). 8:13 A copy of the edict was to be presented as law throughout each and every province and made known to all peoples, so that the Jews might be prepared on that 11 day to avenge themselves from their enemies.
Esther 9:4
Context9:4 Mordecai was of high rank 12 in the king’s palace, and word about him was spreading throughout all the provinces. His influence 13 continued to become greater and greater.
1 tn Heb “heard”; KJV, NAB, NLT “published”; NIV, NRSV “proclaimed.”
2 tc The phrase “vast though it is” is not included in the LXX, although it is retained by almost all English versions.
3 tn Heb “peoples” (so NASB, NRSV).
4 tn Heb “reached” (so NAB, NLT); KJV, NASB, NIV “came”; TEV “wherever the king’s proclamation was made known.”
5 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the Jews went into deep mourning.”
6 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.
7 tn Heb “were spread to many”; KJV, NIV “many (+ people NLT) lay in sackcloth and ashes.”
8 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.
9 tn Heb “the book of the remembrances of the accounts of the days”; NAB “the chronicle of notable events.”
10 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the records) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “this” (so NASB); most English versions read “that” here for stylistic reasons.
12 tn Heb “great”; NRSV “powerful”; NIV “prominent”; NCV “very important.”
13 tn Heb “the man Mordecai” (so NASB, NRSV).
