Discovery BoxEsther 1:5 
Context1:5 When those days 1 were completed, the king then provided a seven-day 2 banquet for all the people who were present 3 in Susa the citadel, for those of highest standing to the most lowly. 4 It was held in the court located in the garden of the royal palace.
Esther 1:22
Context1:22 He sent letters throughout all the royal provinces, to each province according to its own script and to each people according to its own language, 5 that every man should be ruling his family 6 and should be speaking the language of his own people. 7
Esther 2:15
Context2:15 When it became the turn of Esther daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai (who had raised her as if she were his own daughter 8 ) to go to the king, she did not request anything except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who was overseer of the women, had recommended. Yet Esther met with the approval of all who saw her.
Esther 2:18
Context2:18 Then the king prepared a large banquet for all his officials and his servants – it was actually Esther’s banquet. He also set aside a holiday for the provinces, and he provided for offerings at the king’s expense. 9
Esther 3:2
Context3:2 As a result, 10 all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate were bowing and paying homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded. However, Mordecai did not bow, 11 nor did he pay him homage.
Esther 4:16
Context4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I 12 will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. 13 If I perish, I perish!”
Esther 5:14
Context5:14 Haman’s 14 wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows seventy-five feet 15 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.” 16
It seemed like a good idea to Haman, so he had the gallows built.
Esther 6:10
Context6:10 The king then said to Haman, “Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just indicated to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Don’t neglect 17 a single thing of all that you have said.”
Esther 6:13
Context6:13 Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men, 18 along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish, 19 you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”
Esther 9:27
Context9:27 Therefore, because of the account found in this letter and what they had faced in this regard and what had happened to them, the Jews established as binding on themselves, their descendants, and all who joined their company that they should observe these two days without fail, just as written and at the appropriate time on an annual basis.
Esther 10:2-3
Context10:2 Now all the actions carried out under his authority and his great achievements, along with an exact statement concerning the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king promoted, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? 10:3 Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking 20 Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. 21 He worked enthusiastically 22 for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of 23 all his descendants. 24
1 tc The Hebrew text of Esther does not indicate why this elaborate show of wealth and power was undertaken. According to the LXX these were “the days of the wedding” (αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ γάμου, Jai Jhmerai tou gamou), presumably the king’s wedding. However, a number of scholars have called attention to the fact that this celebration takes place just shortly before Xerxes’ invasion of Greece. It is possible that the banquet was a rallying for the up-coming military effort. See Herodotus, Histories 7.8. There is no reason to adopt the longer reading of the LXX here.
2 tc The LXX has ἕξ ({ex, “six”) instead of “seven.” Virtually all English versions follow the reading of the MT here, “seven.”
3 tn Heb “were found.”
4 tn Heb “from the great and unto the small.”
5 sn For purposes of diplomacy and governmental communication throughout the far-flung regions of the Persian empire the Aramaic language was normally used. Educated people throughout the kingdom could be expected to have competence in this language. But in the situation described in v. 22 a variety of local languages are to be used, and not just Aramaic, so as to make the king’s edict understandable to the largest possible number of people.
6 tn Heb “in his house”; NIV “over his own household.”
7 tc The final prepositional phrase is not included in the LXX, and this shorter reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT). Some scholars suggest the phrase may be the result of dittography from the earlier phrase “to each people according to its language,” but this is not a necessary conclusion. The edict was apparently intended to reassert male prerogative with regard to two things (and not just one): sovereign and unquestioned leadership within the family unit, and the right of deciding which language was to be used in the home when a bilingual situation existed.
8 tn Heb “who had taken her to him as a daughter”; NRSV “who had adopted her as his own daughter.”
9 tc The LXX does not include the words “and he provided for offerings at the king’s expense.”
10 tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).
11 sn Mordecai did not bow. The reason for Mordecai’s refusal to bow before Haman is not clearly stated here. Certainly the Jews did not refuse to bow as a matter of principle, as though such an action somehow violated the second command of the Decalogue. Many biblical texts bear witness to their practice of falling prostrate before people of power and influence (e.g., 1 Sam 24:8; 2 Sam 14:4; 1 Kgs 1:16). Perhaps the issue here was that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, a people who had attacked Israel in an earlier age (see Exod 17:8-16; 1 Sam 15:17-20; Deut 25:17-19).
12 tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.
13 tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”
14 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Haman) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 tn 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.”
16 tn Or “joyful”; NRSV “in good spirits”; TEV “happy.”
17 tn Heb “do not let fall”; NASB “do not fall short.”
18 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.”
19 tn Heb “from the seed of the Jews”; KJV, ASV similar.
20 tn Heb “great among the Jews” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “preeminent among the Jews”; NRSV “powerful among the Jews.”
21 tn Heb “brothers”; NASB “kinsmen”; NIV “fellow Jews.”
22 tn Heb “he was seeking”; NAB “as the promoter of his people’s welfare.”
23 tn Heb “he was speaking peace to”; NRSV “and interceded for the welfare of.”
24 sn A number of additions to the Book of Esther appear in the apocryphal (or deuterocanonical) writings. These additions supply further information about various scenes described in the canonical book and are interesting in their own right. However, they were never a part of the Hebrew Bible. The placement of this additional material in certain Greek manuscripts of the Book of Esther may be described as follows. At the beginning of Esther there is an account (= chapter 11) of a dream in which Mordecai is warned by God of a coming danger for the Jews. In this account two great dragons, representing Mordecai and Haman, prepare for conflict. But God responds to the prayers of his people, and the crisis is resolved. This account is followed by another one (= chapter 12) in which Mordecai is rewarded for disclosing a plot against the king’s life. After Esth 3:13 there is a copy of a letter from King Artaxerxes authorizing annihilation of the Jews (= chapter 13). After Esth 4:17 the account continues with a prayer of Mordecai (= part of chapter 13), followed by a prayer of Esther (= chapter 14), and an account which provides details about Esther’s appeal to the king in behalf of her people (= chapter 15). After Esth 8:12 there is a copy of a letter from King Artaxerxes in which he denounces Haman and his plot and authorizes his subjects to assist the Jews (= chapter 16). At the end of the book, following Esth 10:3, there is an addition which provides an interpretation to Mordecai’s dream, followed by a brief ascription of genuineness to the entire book (= chapter 11).
