Esther 10

King Ahasuerus placed a tax on the land he ruled, including the coastlands and islands of the sea.

1And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea.

Note"Ahasuerus" is the Hebrew form of the Persian royal name Khshayarsha, which comes into English through Greek as Xerxes; the two names refer to the same king. "Tribute" here is a compulsory levy imposed on subject territories (paid in silver, goods, or forced labor), rather than a tax voted by those who paid it. "The isles of the sea" translates a Hebrew word meaning coastlands as much as islands: the shores and islands of the Mediterranean at the western edge of the Persian empire, standing for its farthest reaches.

2Everything he did by his power and strength, along with the full account of how great Mordecai became when the king promoted him, is written down in the official record book of the kings of Media and Persia.

2And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

Note"The book of the chronicles" was the Persian court's official day-by-day record of royal business, kept by court secretaries; the same archive is what is read aloud to the sleepless king earlier in the story. "Are they not written...?" is a standard formula in Hebrew historical writing, a rhetorical question that points the reader to a separate source rather than repeating its contents. The order "Media and Persia" reflects that the empire was formed from two allied peoples, the Medes and the Persians, ruled from Persia; the phrase appears in both orders in this book.

3Mordecai the Jew was second in rank only to King Ahasuerus. He was highly respected among the Jews and well liked by the great number of his fellow Jews. He worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the peace of all his people.

3For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.

Note"Next unto king Ahasuerus" means second in rank in the whole empire, the highest office under the throne, the position Haman had held. "Wealth" in 1611 English meant well-being or prosperity in the broadest sense, not money; the Hebrew word means good or benefit. "Speaking peace" uses the Hebrew shalom, which covers safety, prosperity, and wholeness, not merely the absence of war. "All his seed" is a literal rendering of a Hebrew idiom for offspring or descendants, used here of his people as a whole rather than of children he fathered.