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Esther 7-8
New English Translation

The King Has Haman Executed

7 So the king and Haman came to dine[a] with Queen Esther. 2 On the second day of the banquet of wine the king asked Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your petition? Ask for up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done.”

3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have met with your approval,[b] O king, and if the king is so inclined, grant me my life as my request, and my people as my petition. 4 For we have been sold[c]—both I and my people—to destruction and to slaughter and to annihilation. If we had simply been sold as male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, for such distress would not have been sufficient for troubling the king.”

5 Then King Ahasuerus responded[d] to Queen Esther, “Who is this individual? Where is this person to be found who is presumptuous enough[e] to act in this way?”

6 Esther replied, “The oppressor and enemy is this evil Haman!”

Then Haman became terrified in the presence of the king and queen. 7 In rage the king arose from the banquet of wine and withdrew to the palace garden. Meanwhile, Haman stood to beg Queen Esther for his life,[f] for he realized that the king had now determined a catastrophic end for him.[g]

8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet of wine, Haman was throwing himself down[h] on the couch where Esther was lying.[i] The king exclaimed, “Will he also attempt to rape the queen while I am still in the building?”

As these words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Harbona,[j] one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Indeed, there is the gallows that Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke out on the king’s behalf. It stands near Haman’s home and is 75 feet[k] high.”

The king said, “Hang him on it!” 10 So they hanged Haman on the very gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. The king’s rage then abated.

The King Acts to Protect the Jews

8 On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate[l] of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her. 2 The king then removed his signet ring (the very one he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther designated Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s estate.

3 Then Esther again spoke with the king, falling at his feet. She wept and begged him for mercy, that he might nullify the evil of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had intended against the Jews.[m] 4 When the king extended to Esther the gold scepter, she[n] arose and stood before the king.

5 She said, “If the king is so inclined, and if I have met with his approval, and if the matter is agreeable to the king, and if I am attractive to him, let an edict be written rescinding those recorded intentions of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite,[o] which he wrote in order to destroy the Jews who are throughout all the king’s provinces. 6 For how can I watch the calamity that will befall my people, and how can I watch the destruction of my relatives?”[p]

7 King Ahasuerus replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I have already given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he has been hanged on the gallows because he took hostile action[q] against the Jews. 8 Now write in the king’s name whatever in your opinion is appropriate concerning the Jews and seal it with the king’s signet ring. Any decree that is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be rescinded.”

9 The king’s scribes were quickly[r] summoned—in the third month (that is, the month of Sivan), on the twenty-third day.[s] They wrote out[t] everything that Mordecai instructed to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors, and the officials of the provinces all the way from India to Ethiopia[u]—127 provinces in all—to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, and to the Jews according to their own script and their own language. 10 Mordecai[v] wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He then sent letters by couriers, who rode royal horses that were very swift.

11 The king thereby allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and to stand up for themselves—to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any army of whatever people or province that should become their adversaries, including their women and children,[w] and to confiscate their property. 12 This was to take place on a certain day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus—namely, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar). 13 A copy of the edict was to be presented as law throughout each and every province and made known to all peoples, so that the Jews might be prepared on that[x] day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

14 The couriers who were riding the royal horses went forth with the king’s edict without delay.[y] And the law was presented in Susa the citadel as well.

15 Now Mordecai went out from the king’s presence in blue and white royal attire, with a large golden crown and a purple linen mantle. The city of Susa shouted with joy.[z] 16 For the Jews there was radiant happiness and joyous honor.[aa] 17 Throughout every province and throughout every city where the king’s edict and his law arrived, the Jews experienced happiness and joy, banquets and holidays. Many of the resident peoples[ab] pretended to be Jews,[ac] because the fear of the Jews had overcome them.[ad]

Footnotes

  1. Esther 7:1 tn Heb “to drink”; NASB “to drink wine.” The expression is a metaphor for lavish feasting, cf. NRSV “to feast”; KJV “to banquet.”
  2. Esther 7:3 tn Heb “If I have found grace in your eyes” (so also in 8:5); TEV “If it please Your Majesty.”
  3. Esther 7:4 sn The passive verb (“have been sold”) is noncommittal and nonaccusatory with regard to the king’s role in the decision to annihilate the Jews.
  4. Esther 7:5 tc The second occurrence of the Hebrew verb וַיּאמֶר (vayyoʾmer, “and he said”) in the MT should probably be disregarded. The repetition is unnecessary in the context and may be the result of dittography in the MT.
  5. Esther 7:5 tn Heb “has so filled his heart”; NAB “who has dared to do this.”
  6. Esther 7:7 sn There is great irony here in that the man who set out to destroy all the Jews now finds himself begging for his own life from a Jew.
  7. Esther 7:7 tn Heb “for he saw that calamity was determined for him from the king”; NAB “the king had decided on his doom”; NRSV “the king had determined to destroy him.”
  8. Esther 7:8 tn Heb “falling”; NAB, NRSV “had (+ just TEV) thrown himself (+ down TEV).”
  9. Esther 7:8 tn Heb “where Esther was” (so KJV, NASB). The term “lying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “was reclining.”
  10. Esther 7:9 sn Cf. 1:10, where Harbona is one of the seven eunuchs sent by the king to summon Queen Vashti to his banquet.
  11. Esther 7:9 tn Heb “50 cubits.” See the note on this expression in Esth 5:14.
  12. Esther 8:1 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV; also in vv. 2, 7). Cf. TEV “all the property.”
  13. Esther 8:3 sn As in 7:4 Esther avoids implicating the king in this plot. Instead Haman is given sole responsibility for the plan to destroy the Jews.
  14. Esther 8:4 tn Heb “Esther.” The pronoun (“she”) was used in the translation for stylistic reasons. A repetition of the proper name is redundant here in terms of contemporary English style.
  15. Esther 8:5 tc The LXX does not include the expression “the Agagite.”
  16. Esther 8:6 tn Heb “my kindred” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB “my race”; NIV “my family”; NLT “my people and my family.”
  17. Esther 8:7 tn Heb “sent forth his hand”; NAB, NIV “attacked”; NLT “tried to destroy.” Cf. 9:2.
  18. Esther 8:9 tn Heb “in that time”; NIV “At once.”
  19. Esther 8:9 sn Cf. 3:12. Two months and ten days have passed since Haman’s edict to wipe out the Jews.
  20. Esther 8:9 tn Heb “it was written”; this passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
  21. Esther 8:9 tn Heb “Cush” (so NIV), referring to the region of the upper Nile in Africa. Cf. KJV and most other English versions “Ethiopia.”
  22. Esther 8:10 tn Heb “He”; the referent (Mordecai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  23. Esther 8:11 tn Heb “children and women.” As in 3:13, the translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.
  24. Esther 8:13 tn Heb “this” (so NASB); most English versions read “that” here for stylistic reasons.
  25. Esther 8:14 tn Heb “making haste and hurrying”; KJV, ASV “being hastened and pressed.”
  26. Esther 8:15 tn Heb “shouted and rejoiced.” The expression is a hendiadys (see the note on 5:10 for an explanation of this figure).
  27. Esther 8:16 tn Heb “light and gladness and joy and honor” (so NASB). The present translation understands the four terms to be a double hendiadys.
  28. Esther 8:17 tn Heb “peoples of the land” (so NASB); NIV “people of other nationalities”; NRSV “peoples of the country.”
  29. Esther 8:17 tn Heb “were becoming Jews”; NAB “embraced Judaism.” However, the Hitpael stem of the verb is sometimes used of a feigning action rather than a genuine one (see, e.g., 2 Sam 13:5, 6), which is the way the present translation understands the use of the word here (cf. NEB “professed themselves Jews”; NRSV “professed to be Jews”). This is the only occurrence of this verb in the Hebrew Bible, so there are no exact parallels. However, in the context of v. 17 the motivation of their conversion (Heb “the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them”) should not be overlooked. The LXX apparently understood the conversion described here to be genuine, since it adds the words “they were being circumcised and” before “they became Jews.”
  30. Esther 8:17 tn Heb “had fallen upon them” (so NRSV); NIV “had seized them.”
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Esther 7-8
New International Version

Haman Impaled

7 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet,(A) 2 and as they were drinking wine(B) on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom,(C) it will be granted.(D)”

3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor(E) with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated.(F) If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.[a]”

5 King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

6 Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”

Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 7 The king got up in a rage,(G) left his wine and went out into the palace garden.(H) But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate,(I) stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

8 Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch(J) where Esther was reclining.(K)

The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”(L)

As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.(M) 9 Then Harbona,(N) one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits[b](O) stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”

The king said, “Impale him on it!”(P) 10 So they impaled(Q) Haman(R) on the pole(S) he had set up for Mordecai.(T) Then the king’s fury subsided.(U)

The King’s Edict in Behalf of the Jews

8 That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman,(V) the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. 2 The king took off his signet ring,(W) which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.(X)

3 Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite,(Y) which he had devised against the Jews. 4 Then the king extended the gold scepter(Z) to Esther and she arose and stood before him.

5 “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor(AA) and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. 6 For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?”(AB)

7 King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled(AC) him on the pole he set up. 8 Now write another decree(AD) in the king’s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal(AE) it with the king’s signet ring(AF)—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.”(AG)

9 At once the royal secretaries were summoned—on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai’s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.[c](AH) These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language.(AI) 10 Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.

11 The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children,[d] and to plunder(AJ) the property of their enemies. 12 The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.(AK) 13 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day(AL) to avenge themselves on their enemies.

14 The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.(AM)

The Triumph of the Jews

15 When Mordecai(AN) left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold(AO) and a purple robe of fine linen.(AP) And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration.(AQ) 16 For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy,(AR) gladness and honor.(AS) 17 In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy(AT) and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear(AU) of the Jews had seized them.(AV)

Footnotes

  1. Esther 7:4 Or quiet, but the compensation our adversary offers cannot be compared with the loss the king would suffer
  2. Esther 7:9 That is, about 75 feet or about 23 meters
  3. Esther 8:9 That is, the upper Nile region
  4. Esther 8:11 Or province, together with their women and children, who might attack them;
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