Esther 9:30

Letters were sent ¹  to all the Jews in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the empire of Ahasuerus – words of true peace ²  –

Es 1:1; Es 8:9; Isa 39:8; Zec 8:19

¹ tc The present translation is based on the Niphal form וַיּשָּׁלַח (vayyishalakh, “were sent”; so also NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT) rather than the reading of the MT וַיּשְׁלַח (vayyishlakh, Qal, “and he sent”). The subject of the MT verb would have to be Mordecai (cf. NAB, NIV, NCV), but this is problematic in light of v. 29, where both Esther and Mordecai are responsible for the letters.

² tn Heb “peace and truth.” The expression is probably a hendiadys (see the note on 5:10 for an explanation of this figure).