Discovery BoxEsther 4:12 
Context4:12 When Esther’s reply 1 was conveyed to Mordecai,
Esther 1:12
Context1:12 But Queen Vashti refused 2 to come at the king’s bidding 3 conveyed through the eunuchs. Then the king became extremely angry, and his rage consumed 4 him.
Esther 1:15
Context1:15 The king asked, 5 “By law, 6 what should be done to Queen Vashti in light of the fact that she has not obeyed the instructions of King Ahasuerus conveyed through the eunuchs?”
Esther 3:9
Context3:9 If the king is so inclined, 7 let an edict be issued 8 to destroy them. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver 9 to be conveyed to the king’s treasuries for the officials who carry out this business.”
1 tn Heb “the words of Esther”; TEV, NLT “Esther’s message.”
2 sn Refusal to obey the king was risky even for a queen in the ancient world. It is not clear why Vashti behaved so rashly and put herself in such danger. Apparently she anticipated humiliation of some kind and was unwilling to subject herself to it, in spite of the obvious dangers. There is no justification in the biblical text for an ancient Jewish targumic tradition that the king told her to appear before his guests dressed in nothing but her royal high turban, that is, essentially naked.
3 tn Heb “at the word of the king”; NASB “at the king’s command.”
4 tn Heb “burned in him” (so KJV).
5 tn These words are not present in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV, NLT, all of which supply similar phrases).
6 tc The location of the prepositional phrase “according to law” is somewhat unusual in the Hebrew text, but not so much so as to require emendation. Some scholars suggest deleting the phrase as an instance of dittography from the final part of the immediately preceding word in v. 14. Others suggest taking the phrase with the end of v. 14 rather than with v. 15. Both proposals, however, lack adequate justification.
7 tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.”
8 tn Heb “let it be written” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “let it be decreed.”
9 sn The enormity of the monetary sum referred to here can be grasped by comparing this amount (10,000 talents of silver) to the annual income of the empire, which according to Herodotus (Histories 3.95) was 14,500 Euboic talents. In other words Haman is offering the king a bribe equal to two-thirds of the royal income. Doubtless this huge sum of money was to come (in large measure) from the anticipated confiscation of Jewish property and assets once the Jews had been destroyed. That such a large sum of money is mentioned may indicate something of the economic standing of the Jewish population in the empire of King Ahasuerus.
