Esther 6
New English Translation
The Turning Point: The King Honors Mordecai
6 Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep,[a] so he asked for the book containing the historical records[b] to be brought. As the records[c] were being read in the king’s presence, 2 it was found written that Mordecai had disclosed that Bigthana[d] and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, had plotted to assassinate[e] King Ahasuerus.
3 The king asked, “What great honor[f] was bestowed on Mordecai because of this?” The king’s attendants who served him responded, “Not a thing was done for him.”
4 Then the king said, “Who is that in the courtyard?” Now Haman had come to the outer courtyard of the palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had constructed for him. 5 The king’s attendants said to him, “It is Haman who is standing in the courtyard.” The king said, “Let him enter.”
6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor?” Haman thought to himself,[g] “Who is it that the king would want to honor more than me?” 7 So Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king wishes to honor, 8 let them bring royal attire which the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden—one bearing the royal insignia.[h] 9 Then let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king’s noble officials. Let him[i] then clothe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him lead him about through the plaza of the city on the horse, calling[j] before him, ‘So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!’”
10 The king then said to Haman, “Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just indicated to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Don’t neglect[k] a single thing of all that you have said.”
11 So Haman took the clothing and the horse, and he clothed Mordecai. He led him about on the horse throughout the plaza of the city, calling before him, “So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!”
12 Then Mordecai again sat at the king’s gate, while Haman hurried away to his home, mournful and with a veil over his head. 13 Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men,[l] along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish,[m] you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”
14 While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived. They quickly brought Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Esther 6:1 tn Heb “and the sleep of the king fled.” In place of the rather innocuous comment of the Hebrew text, the LXX reads here, “And the Lord removed the sleep from the king.” The Greek text thus understands the statement in a more overtly theological way than does the Hebrew text, although even in the Hebrew text there may be a hint of God’s providence at work in this matter. After all, this event is crucial to the later reversal of Haman’s plot to destroy the Jewish people, and a sympathetic reader is likely to look beyond the apparent coincidence.
- Esther 6:1 tn Heb “the book of the remembrances of the accounts of the days”; NAB “the chronicle of notable events.”
- Esther 6:1 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the records) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Esther 6:2 tn This individual is referred to as “Bigthan,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 2:21.
- Esther 6:2 tn Heb “to send a hand against”; NASB “had sought to lay hands on.”
- Esther 6:3 tn Heb “honor and greatness.” The expression is a hendiadys (see the note on 5:10 for an explanation of this figure).
- Esther 6:6 tn Heb “said in his heart” (so ASV); NASB, NRSV “said to himself.”
- Esther 6:8 tc The final comment (“one on whose head the royal crown has been”) is not included in the LXX.tn Heb “a royal crown on his head.” The reference is to an official decoration or headdress for horses in royal service. See HALOT 506 s.v. כֶּתֶר; DCH 4:477 s.v. כֶּתֶר. Cf. TEV “a royal ornament”; CEV “a fancy headdress.”
- Esther 6:9 tc The present translation reads with the LXX וְהִלְבִּישׁוֹ (vehilbisho, “and he will clothe him”) rather than the reading of the MT וְהִלְבִּישׁוּ (vehilbishu, “and they will clothe”). The reading of the LXX is also followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV, and NLT. Likewise, the later verbs in this verse (“cause him to ride” and “call”) are better taken as singulars rather than plurals.
- Esther 6:9 tn Heb “and let them call” (see the previous note).
- Esther 6:10 tn Heb “do not let fall”; NASB “do not fall short.”
- Esther 6:13 tc Part of the Greek tradition and the Syriac Peshitta understand this word as “friends,” probably reading the Hebrew term רֲכָמָיו (rakhamayv, “his friends”) rather than the reading of the MT חֲכָמָיו (hakhamayv, “his wise men”). Cf. NLT “all his friends”; the two readings appear to be conflated by TEV as “those wise friends of his.”
- Esther 6:13 tn Heb “from the seed of the Jews”; KJV, ASV similar.
Esther 6
Common English Bible
Honor for Mordecai
6 That same night, the king simply couldn’t sleep. He had the official royal records brought in, and his young male servants began reading them to the king. 2 They came to the report about Mordecai informing on Bigthan and Teresh. (They were the two royal eunuchs among the guards protecting the king’s doorway, who secretly planned to kill King Ahasuerus.) 3 “What was done to honor and reward Mordecai for this?” the king asked.
His young male servants replied, “Nothing was done for him, sir.”
4 “Who is that out in the courtyard?” the king asked. (Haman had just entered the outer courtyard of the palace. He had come to tell the king to impale Mordecai on the pole that he had set up for him.)
5 The king’s servants answered, “That’s Haman standing out in the courtyard, sir.” So the king said, “Have him come in.”
6 When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man whom the king really wants to honor?”
Haman thought to himself, Whom would the king really want to honor more than me? 7 So Haman said to the king, “Here’s what should be done for the man the king really wants to honor. 8 Have servants bring out a royal robe that the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden. It should have a royal crest on its head. 9 Then hand over the robe and the horse to another man, one of the king’s officials. Have him personally robe[a] the man whom the king really wants to honor and lead him on the horse through the city square. As he goes, have him shout, ‘This is what the king does for the man he really wants to honor!’”
10 Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse just as you’ve said and do exactly that for Mordecai the Jew, who works at the King’s Gate. Don’t leave out a single thing you’ve said!”
11 So Haman took the robe and the horse and put the robe on Mordecai. He led him on horseback through the city square, shouting as he went, “This is what the king does for the man he really wants to honor!” 12 Afterward, Mordecai returned to the King’s Gate, while Haman hurried home feeling great shame, his head covered.
13 Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Both his friends[b] and his wife said to him, “You’ve already begun to lose out to Mordecai. If he is of Jewish birth, you’ll not be able to win against him. You are surely going to lose out to him.”
Haman’s demise
14 They were still discussing this with him when several royal eunuchs arrived. They quickly hurried Haman off to the feast that Esther had prepared.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Esther 6:9 LXX sing robe and lead, cf Heb plural verbs
- Esther 6:13 LXX; Heb wise ones
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