Footnotes

1. Esther 2:5 sn 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 recorded in the biblical text.
2. Esther 2:6 sn Jeconiah is an alternative name for Jehoiachin. A number of modern English versions use the latter name to avoid confusion (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).
3. Esther 2:7 tn According to HALOT 64 s.v. II אמן the term אֹמֵן (ʾomen) 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 אָמַן (ʾaman, “to support; to confirm”; cf. BDB 52 s.v. אָמַן). This is reflected in a number of translations by use of a phrase like “brought up” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NIV) or “bringing up” (NASB).
4. Esther 2:7 sn 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.
5. Esther 2:7 tn Heb “for there was not to her father or mother.” This is universally understood to mean Esther’s father and mother were no longer alive.
6. Esther 2:7 tn Heb “beautiful of form.” The Hebrew noun תֹּאַר (toʾar, “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 s.v. Cf. TEV “had a good figure.”
7. Esther 2:7 tn Heb “had taken her to him.” The Hebrew verb לָקַח (laqakh, “to take”) describes Mordecai adopting Esther and treating her like his own daughter: “to take as one’s own property” as a daughter (HALOT 534 s.v. I לקח 6).
8. Esther 2:8 tn Heb “were heard” (so NASB); NRSV “were (had been NIV) proclaimed.”
9. Esther 2:8 tn Heb “the house of the king.” So also in vv. 9, 13. Cf. NLT “the king’s harem.”
10. Esther 2:9 tn Heb “was good in his eyes”; NLT “Hegai was very impressed with Esther.”
11. Esther 2:9 tn Heb “being looked at (with favor).”
12. Esther 2:9 tn Heb “of the house of the women” (so KJV, ASV). So also in vv. 11, 13, 14.
13. Esther 2:10 tn Cf. v. 20, where the same phrase occurs but with the word order reversed.
14. Esther 2:10 tn Heb “that she not tell” (NRSV similar); NASB “that she should not make them known.”
15. Esther 2:11 tn Heb “to know the peace of Esther.”
16. Esther 2:12 tc 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”; NASB “under the regulations for the women.”
17. Esther 2:14 tn Heb “second.” The numerical adjective שֵׁנִי (sheni, “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 τὸν δεύτερον, ton deuteron). Some scholars emend the text to שֵׁנִית (shenit, “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.
18. Esther 2:14 tc The LXX does not include the words “was pleased with her.”
19. Esther 2:15 tn Heb “who had taken her to him as a daughter”; NRSV “who had adopted her as his own daughter.”
20. Esther 2:16 tc The Greek mss Codex Alexandrinus (A) and Codex Vaticanus (B) read “twelfth” here.
21. Esther 2:16 tc The Syriac Peshitta reads “fourth” here.
22. Esther 2:17 tn Heb “grace and loyal love.” The expression is probably a hendiadys.
23. Esther 2:17 tc The LXX does not include the words “more than all the other young women.”
24. Esther 2:17 tn Heb “caused her to rule.”
25. Esther 2:18 tc The LXX does not include the words “and he provided for offerings at the king’s expense.”
26. Esther 2:19 tc The LXX does not include the words “Now when the young women were being gathered again.” The Hebrew word שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”) is difficult in v. 19, but apparently it refers to a subsequent regathering of the women to the harem.
27. Esther 2:19 sn 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.
28. Esther 2:20 sn 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.
29. Esther 2:20 tc The LXX adds the words “to fear God.”
30. Esther 2:21 tn This individual is referred to as “Bigthana,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 6:2.
31. Esther 2:21 tc The LXX does not include the names “Bigthan and Teresh” here.
32. Esther 2:21 tn Heb “guarders of the threshold”; NIV “who guarded the doorway.”
33. Esther 2:21 tn Heb “sought to send a hand against”; CEV “decided to kill.”
34. Esther 2:22 sn 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.
35. Esther 2:22 tc The LXX simply reads “Esther” and does not include “the queen.”
36. Esther 2:23 tn Heb “they both were hanged.” The referent (the two eunuchs who conspired against the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
37. Esther 2:23 tn Or “on a pole”; KJV, ASV “on a tree.”