¹tn Heb “after these things.”
²sn Heb “made great.” The promotion of Haman for reasons unexplained in chapter 3 contrasts noticeably with 2:19-23, where Mordecai’s contribution to saving the king’s life goes unnoticed. The irony is striking.
³tn Heb “chair.”
⁴tn Heb “and.”
⁵sn Mordecai did not bow. The reason for Mordecai’s refusal to bow before Haman is not clearly stated. Certainly the Jews did not refuse to bow as a matter of principle, as though such an action somehow violated the second command of the Decalogue. Many biblical texts bear witness to their practice of falling prostrate before people of power and influence (e.g., 1 Sam 24:8; 2 Sam 14:4; 1 Kgs 1:16). Perhaps the issue here was that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, a people who had attacked Israel in an earlier age (see Exod 17:8-16; 1 Sam 15:17-20; Deut 25:17-19).
⁶sn Mordecai’s position in the service of the king brought him into regular contact with these royal officials. Because of this association the officials would have found ample opportunity to complain of Mordecai’s refusal to honor Haman by bowing down before him.
⁷tn Heb “Will the matters of Mordecai stand?”
⁸sn This disclosure of Jewish identity is a reversal of the practice mentioned in 1:10, 20.
⁹tn Heb “Haman.” The pronoun (“he”) was used in the translation for stylistic reasons. A repetition of the proper name would appear redundant here in terms of contemporary English style.
¹⁰tn Heb “to send a hand against.”
¹¹tn Heb “they had related to him.”
¹²tc The entire first half of the verse is not included in the LXX.
¹³tc This parenthetical phrase is not included in the LXX. Some scholars (e.g., H. Gunkel, C. A. Moore) emend MT ‘am (‘people”) to ‘im (“with”), arguing that the phrase is awkwardly placed and syntactically inappropriate. While there is some truth to their complaint, the MT makes sufficient sense as to be acceptable here.
¹⁴sn This year would be ca. 474 b.c. The reference to first month and twelfth month indicate that about a year had elapsed between this determination and the anticipated execution.
¹⁵tn Pur (“lot”) is an Akkadian loan-word; the narrator therefore explains it for his Hebrew readers (“that is, the lot”). It is from the plural form of this word (i.e., Purim) that the festival celebrating the deliverance of the Jews takes its name (cf. 9:24, 26, 28, 31).
¹⁶tc The LXX adds the following words: “in order to destroy in one day the race of Mordecai, and the lot fell on the fourteenth day of the month.”
tn Heb “from day to day and month to month.”
¹⁷tn Since v. 7 seems to interrupt the flow of the narrative, many scholars have suggested that it is a late addition to the text. But there is not enough evidence to warrant such a conclusion. Even though its placement is a bit awkward, the verse supplies to the reader an important piece of chronological information.
¹⁸tn Heb “one people.” Note the subtle absence at this point of a specific mention of the Jews.
¹⁹tn Heb “peoples.”
²⁰tn Heb “to cause them to rest.”
²¹tn Heb “If upon the king it is good.”
²²tn Heb “let it be written.”
²³sn 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 Eubolic talents. In other words Haman is offering a bribe equal to two-thirds of the royal income. This huge sum of money was to come, no doubt (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.
²⁴sn Possessing the king’s ring would enable Haman to act with full royal authority. The king’s ring would be used to impress the royal seal on edicts, making them as binding as if the king himself had enacted them.
²⁵tn Heb “the silver is given to you.” Moore understands these words somewhat differently, taking them to imply acceptance of the money on Xerxes’ part. Moore translates, “Well, it’s your money.” See C. A. Moore, Esther, 40.
²⁶tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes.”
²⁷tn The words “stating that” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
²⁸tn Heb “children and women.”
²⁹tc The LXX does not include the words “on the thirteenth day.”
³⁰tn Heb “peoples.”
³¹tn Heb “runners.” So also in 8:10, 14.
³²tn Or “went forth.”
³³tn Heb “with the word of the king.”
³⁴sn The city of Susa was in an uproar. This final statement of v. 15 is a sad commentary on the pathetic disregard of despots for the human misery and suffering that they sometimes inflict on those who are helpless to resist their power. Here, while common people braced for the reckless loss of life and property that was about to begin, the perpetrators went about their mundane activities as though nothing of importance was happening.