¹tn Heb “after these things.” The expression is very vague from a temporal standpoint, not indicating precisely just how much time might have elapsed. Cf. v. 21.
²sn There may be a tinge of regret expressed in the king’s remembrance of Vashti. There is perhaps a hint that he wished for her presence once again, although that was not feasible from a practical standpoint. The suggestions by the king’s attendants concerning a replacement seem to be an effort to overcome this nostalgia. Certainly it was to their advantage to seek the betterment of the king’s outlook. Those around him the most were probably the most likely to suffer the effects of his ire.
³tn Heb “young women, virgins, good of form.” The same phrase also occurs in v. 3.
⁴tn Heb “the house of the women.” So also in vv. 9, 11, 13, and 14.
⁵tn Heb “their ointments.”
⁶tn Heb “who is good in the eyes of the king.”
⁷tn Heb “the matter was good in the eyes of the king.”
⁸sn Mordecai is a pagan name that reflects the name of the Babylonian deity Marduk. Probably many Jews of the period had two names, one for secular use and the other for use especially within the Jewish community. Mordecai’s Jewish name is not provided.
⁹map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
¹⁰sn Jeconiah is an alternative name for Jehoiachin.
¹¹tn According to HALOT 1:64 the term II. /m@a) (’omen) means: (1) “attendant” of children (Num 11:12; Isa 49:23); (2) “guardian” (2 Kgs 10:1, 5; Esth 2:7); (3) “nurse-maid” (2 Sam 4:4; Ruth 4:16); and (4) “to look after” (Isa 60:4; Lam 4:5). Older lexicons did not distinguish this root from the homonym I. /m^a* (’aman, “to support; to confirm”; cf. BDB 52). This is reflected in a number of translations by use of a phrase like “brought up” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NIV) or “bringing up” (NASB).
¹²sn Hadassah is a Jewish name that probably means “myrtle”; the name Esther probably derives from the Persian word for “star,” although some scholars derive it from the name of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Esther is not the only biblical character for whom two different names were used. Daniel (renamed Belteshazzar) and his three friends Hananiah (renamed Shadrach), Mishael (renamed Meshach), and Azariah (renamed Abednego) were also given different names by their captors.
¹³tn Heb “for there was not to her father or mother.”
¹⁴tn Heb “beautiful of form.” The Hebrew noun rat (to’ar, “form; shape”) is used elsewhere to describe the physical bodily shape of a beautiful woman (Gen 29:17; Deut 21:11; 1 Sam 25:3); see BDB 1061.
¹⁵tn Heb “had taken her to him.” The Hebrew verb jql (laqah, “to take”) describes Mordecai adopting Esther and treating her like his own daughter: “to take as one’s own property” as a daughter (HALOT 2:534 s.v. 6).
¹⁶tn Heb “were heard.”
¹⁷tn Heb “the house of the king.” So also in vv. 9, 13.
¹⁸tn Heb “was good in his eyes.”
¹⁹tn Heb “being looked at (with favor).”
²⁰tn Heb “the house of the women.” So also in vv. 11, 13, 14.
²¹tn Cf. v. 20, where the same phrase occurs but with the word order reversed.
²²tn Heb “that she not tell.”
²³tn Heb “the peace of Esther.”
²⁴tc The LXX does not include the words “that were required for the women.”
tn Heb “to be to her according to the law of the women.”
²⁵tn Heb “second.” The numerical adjective seni (“second”) is difficult here. As a modifier for “house” in v. 14 the word would presumably refer to a second part of the harem, one which was under the supervision of a separate official. But in this case the definite article would be expected before “second” (cf. LXX, ton deuteron). Some scholars emend the text to senit (“a second time”)., but this does not completely resolve the difficulty since the meaning remains unclear. The translation adopted above follows the LXX and understands the word to refer to a separate group of women in the king’s harem, a group housed apparently in a distinct part of the residence complex.
²⁶tc The LXX does not include the words “was pleased with her.”
²⁷tn Heb “who had taken her to him as a daughter.”
²⁸tc The Greek MSS Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Vaticanus read “twelfth” here.
²⁹tc The Syriac Peshitta reads “fourth” here.
³⁰tn Heb “grace and loyal love.” The expression is probably a hendiadys.
³¹tc The LXX does not include the words “more than all the other young women.”
³²tn Heb “caused her to rule.”
³³tc The LXX does not include the words “and he provided for offerings at the king’s expense.”
³⁴tc The LXX does not include the words “Now when the young women were being gathered again.” The Hebrew word shenit (“a second time”) is difficult in v. 19, but apparently it refers to a subsequent regathering of the women to the harem.
³⁵sn That Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate apparently means that he was a high-ranking government official. It was at the city gate where important business was transacted. Being in this position afforded Mordecai an opportunity to become aware of the plot against the king’s life, although the author does not include the particular details of how this information first came to Mordecai’s attention.
³⁶sn That Esther was able so effectively to conceal her Jewish heritage suggests that she was not consistently observing Jewish dietary and religious requirements. As C. A. Moore observes, “In order for Esther to have concealed her ethnic and religious identity…in the harem, she must have eaten…, dressed, and lived like a Persian rather than an observant Jewess” (Esther [AB], 28.) In this regard her public behavior stands in contrast to that of Daniel, for example.
³⁷tc The LXX adds the words “to fear God.”
³⁸tn This individual is referred to as “Bigthana,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 6:2.
³⁹tc The LXX does not include the names “Bigthan and Teresh” here.
⁴⁰tn Heb “guarders of the threshold.”
⁴¹tn Heb “send a hand against.”
⁴²sn The text of Esther does not disclose exactly how Mordecai learned about the plot against the king’s life. Ancient Jewish traditions state that Mordecai overheard conspiratorial conversation, or that an informant brought this information to him, or that it came to him as a result of divine prompting. These conjectures are all without adequate support from the biblical text. The author simply does not tell the source of Mordecai’s insight into this momentous event.
⁴³tc The LXX simply reads “Esther” and does not include “the queen.”
⁴⁴tc The LXX adds here “the things concerning the plot.”
tn Heb “in the name of Mordecai.”
⁴⁵tn Heb “they both were hanged.” The referent (the two eunuchs who conspired against the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁴⁶tn Or “on a pole.”