^6:1Throughout that night the king was unable to sleep,¹ so he asked for the book containing the historical records² to be brought. As the records³ were being read in the king’s presence, ^6:2it was found written that Mordecai had disclosed that Bigthana⁴ and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, had plotted to assassinate⁵ King Ahasuerus.

^6:3The king asked, “What great honor⁶ was bestowed on Mordecai because of this?” The king’s attendants who served him responded, “Not a thing was done for him.”

^6:4Then 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. ^6:5The king’s attendants said to him, “It is Haman who is standing in the courtyard.” The king said, “Let him enter.”

^6:6So 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,⁷ “Who is it that the king would want to honor more than me?” ^6:7So Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king wishes to honor, ^6:8let 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!⁸^6:9Then let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king’s noble officials. Let him⁹ 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, calling¹⁰ before him, ‘So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!’ ”

^6:10The 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 neglect¹¹ a single thing of all that you have said.”

^6:11So 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!”

^6:12Then Mordecai again sat at the king’s gate, while Haman hurried away to his home, mournful and with a veil over his head. ^6:13Haman then related to his wife Zeresh and to all his friends everything that had happened to him. These wise men,¹² along with his wife Zeresh, said to him, “If indeed this Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is Jewish,¹³ you will not prevail against him. No, you will surely fall before him!”

^6:14While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived. They quickly brought Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

1 Heb “and the sleep of the king fled.” In place of the rather innocuous comment of the Hebrew text, the 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.
2 Heb “the book of the remembrances of the accounts of the days”; “the chronicle of notable events.”
3 Heb “they”; the referent (the records) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 This individual is referred to as “Bigthan,” a variant spelling of the name, in Esth 2:21.
5 Heb “to send a hand against”; “had sought to lay hands on.”
6 Heb “honor and greatness.” The expression is a hendiadys (see the note on for an explanation of this figure).
7 Heb “said in his heart” (so ); , “said to himself.”
8 The final comment (“one on whose head the royal crown has been”) is not included in the . Heb “a royal crown on his head.” The reference is to an official decoration or headdress for horses in royal service. See כֶּתֶר; 4:477 כֶּתֶר. Cf. “a royal ornament”; “a fancy headdress.”
9 The present translation reads with the וְהִלְבִּישׁוֹ (véhilbisho, “and he will clothe him”) rather than the reading of the וְהִלְבִּישׁוּ (véhilbishu, “and they will clothe”). The reading of the is also followed by , , , , and . Likewise, the later verbs in this verse (“cause him to ride” and “call”) are better taken as singulars rather than plurals.
10 Heb “and let them call” (see the previous note).
11 Heb “do not let fall”; “do not fall short.”
12 Part of the Greek tradition and the understand this word as “friends,” probably reading the Hebrew term רֲכָמָיו (rakhamayv, “his friends”) rather than the reading of the חֲכָמָיו (hakhamayv, “his wise men”). Cf. “all his friends”; the two readings appear to be conflated by as “those wise friends of his.”
13 Heb “from the seed of the Jews”; , similar.