Discovery BoxEsther 2:2 
Context2:2 The king’s servants who attended him said, “Let a search be conducted in the king’s behalf for attractive young women. 1
Esther 5:4
Context5:4 Esther replied, “If the king is so inclined, 2 let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”
Esther 6:5
Context6:5 The king’s attendants said to him, “It is Haman who is standing in the courtyard.” The king said, “Let him enter.”
Esther 6:8
Context6:8 let them bring royal attire which the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden – one bearing the royal insignia! 3
1 tn Heb “young women, virgins, good of form.” The same phrase also occurs in v. 3.
2 tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; NASB “If it please the king.”
3 tc The final comment (“one on whose head the royal crown has been”) is not included in the LXX.
tn Heb “a royal crown on his head.” The reference is to an official decoration or headdress for horses in royal service. See HALOT 506 s.v. כֶּתֶר; DCH 4:477 s.v. כֶּתֶר. Cf. TEV “a royal ornament”; CEV “a fancy headdress.”
