Discovery BoxEsther 1:7 
Context1:7 Drinks 1 were served in golden containers, all of which differed from one another. Royal wine was available in abundance at the king’s expense.
Esther 8:1
ContextThe King Acts to Protect the Jews
8:1 On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate 2 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.
Esther 9:17
Context9:17 All of this happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. They then rested on the fourteenth day and made it a day for banqueting and happiness.
Esther 9:29
Context9:29 So Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with full authority to confirm this second 3 letter about Purim.
1 tn Heb “to cause to drink” (Hiphil infinitive construct of שָׁקָה, shaqah). As the etymology of the Hebrew word for “banquet” (מִשְׁתֶּה, mishteh, from שָׁתָה, shatah, “to drink”) hints, drinking was a prominent feature of ancient Near Eastern banquets.
2 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV; also in vv. 2, 7). Cf. TEV “all the property.”
3 tc The LXX and the Syriac Peshitta omit the word “second.”
