Discovery BoxEsther 1:3-4 
Context1:3 in the third 1 year of his reign he provided a banquet for all his officials and his servants. The army 2 of Persia and Media 3 was present, 4 as well as the nobles and the officials of the provinces.
1:4 He displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his majestic greatness for a lengthy period of time 5 – a hundred and eighty days, to be exact! 6
Esther 1:10-11
Context1:10 On the seventh day, as King Ahasuerus was feeling the effects of the wine, 7 he ordered Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who attended him, 8 1:11 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. 9
Esther 1:20
Context1:20 And let the king’s decision which he will enact be disseminated 10 throughout all his kingdom, vast though it is. 11 Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the most prominent to the lowly.”
Esther 2:1
Context2:1 When these things had been accomplished 12 and the rage of King Ahasuerus had diminished, he remembered 13 Vashti and what she had done and what had been decided 14 against her.
Esther 2:4-5
Context2:4 Let the young woman whom the king finds most attractive 15 become queen in place of Vashti.” This seemed like a good idea to the king, 16 so he acted accordingly.
2:5 Now there happened to be a Jewish man in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai. 17 He was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite,
Esther 2:20
Context2:20 Esther was still not divulging her lineage or her people, 18 just as Mordecai had instructed her. 19 Esther continued to do whatever Mordecai said, just as she had done when he was raising her.
Esther 5:9
Context5:9 Now Haman went forth that day pleased and very much encouraged. 20 But when Haman saw Mordecai at the king’s gate, and he did not rise nor tremble in his presence, 21 Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.
Esther 6:1
Context6:1 Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep, 22 so he asked for the book containing the historical records 23 to be brought. As the records 24 were being read in the king’s presence,
Esther 6:4
Context6:4 Then the king said, “Who is that in the courtyard?” Now Haman had come to the outer courtyard of the palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had constructed for him.
Esther 7:7
Context7:7 In rage the king arose from the banquet of wine and withdrew to the palace garden. Meanwhile, Haman stood to beg Queen Esther for his life, 25 for he realized that the king had now determined a catastrophic end for him. 26
Esther 8:1-2
Context8:1 On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate 27 of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her. 8:2 The king then removed his signet ring (the very one he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther designated Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s estate.
Esther 8:10
Context8:10 Mordecai 28 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 9:24
Context9:24 For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised plans against the Jews to destroy them. He had cast pur (that is, the lot) in order to afflict and destroy them.
1 sn The third year of Xerxes’ reign would be ca. 483
2 tc Due to the large numbers of people implied, some scholars suggest that the original text may have read “leaders of the army” (cf. NAB “Persian and Median aristocracy”; NASB “the army officers”; NIV “the military leaders”). However, there is no textual evidence for this emendation, and the large numbers are not necessarily improbable.
3 sn Unlike the Book of Daniel, the usual order for this expression in Esther is “Persia and Media” (cf. vv. 14, 18, 19). In Daniel the order is “Media and Persia,” indicating a time in their history when Media was in the ascendancy.
4 sn The size of the banquet described here, the number of its invited guests, and the length of its duration, although certainly immense by any standard, are not without precedent in the ancient world. C. A. Moore documents a Persian banquet for 15,000 people and an Assyrian celebration with 69,574 guests (Esther [AB], 6).
5 tn Heb “many days” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “for many days.”
6 tn The words “to be exact!” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation to bring out the clarifying nuance of the time period mentioned. Cf. KJV “even an hundred and fourscore days.”
7 tn Heb “as the heart of the king was good with the wine.” Here the proper name (King Ahasuerus) has been substituted for the title in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “King Ahasuerus”; here the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons. Cf. similarly NIV, NCV, CEV, NLT “King Xerxes.”
9 tn Heb “was good of appearance”; KJV “was fair to look on”; NAB “was lovely to behold.”
10 tn Heb “heard”; KJV, NAB, NLT “published”; NIV, NRSV “proclaimed.”
11 tc The phrase “vast though it is” is not included in the LXX, although it is retained by almost all English versions.
12 tn Heb “after these things” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). The expression is very vague from a temporal standpoint, not indicating precisely just how much time might have elapsed. Cf. v. 21.
13 sn There may be a tinge of regret expressed in the king’s remembrance of Vashti. There is perhaps a hint that he wished for her presence once again, although that was not feasible from a practical standpoint. The suggestions by the king’s attendants concerning a replacement seem to be an effort to overcome this nostalgia. Certainly it was to their advantage to seek the betterment of the king’s outlook. Those around him the most were probably the most likely to suffer the effects of his ire.
14 tn Or “decreed” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); TEV “and about his proclamation against her.”
15 tn Heb “who is good in the eyes of the king.”
16 tn Heb “the matter was good in the eyes of the king.” Cf. TEV “The king thought this was good advice.”
17 sn Mordecai is a pagan name that reflects the name of the Babylonian deity Marduk. Probably many Jews of the period had two names, one for secular use and the other for use especially within the Jewish community. Mordecai’s Jewish name is not recorded in the biblical text.
18 sn That Esther was able so effectively to conceal her Jewish heritage suggests that she was not consistently observing Jewish dietary and religious requirements. As C. A. Moore observes, “In order for Esther to have concealed her ethnic and religious identity…in the harem, she must have eaten…, dressed, and lived like a Persian rather than an observant Jewess” (Esther [AB], 28.) In this regard her public behavior stands in contrast to that of Daniel, for example.
19 tc The LXX adds the words “to fear God.”
20 tn Heb “happy and good of heart”; NASB “glad and pleased of heart”; NIV “happy and in high spirits.”
21 tn Heb “tremble from before him”; NIV “nor showed fear in his presence”; TEV “or show any sign of respect as he passed.”
22 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.
23 tn Heb “the book of the remembrances of the accounts of the days”; NAB “the chronicle of notable events.”
24 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the records) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 sn There is great irony here in that the man who set out to destroy all the Jews now finds himself begging for his own life from a Jew.
26 tn Heb “for he saw that calamity was determined for him from the king”; NAB “the king had decided on his doom”; NRSV “the king had determined to destroy him.”
27 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV; also in vv. 2, 7). Cf. TEV “all the property.”
28 tn Heb “He”; the referent (Mordecai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
