Esther 5:3

“And the king said to her, “What is the matter with you, Esther the queen? And what is your petition? Up to half of the kingdom, and it will be given to you.””
Esther 5:3 · direct translation from the Hebrew

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With the Hebrew beneath

And the kingוַ הַמֶּלֶךְsaidיֹּאמֶרto her,לָהּ“What is the matter with you,מַה לָּךְEstherאֶסְתֵּרthe queen?הַמַּלְכָּהAnd whatוּמַהisyour petition?בַּקָּשָׁתֵךְUp toעַדhalfחֲצִיof the kingdom,הַמַּלְכוּתand it will be givenוְיִנָּתֵןto you.”לָךְ

Allusion · Mark 6:23

Go to Mark 6:23

Both texts have the king’s promise: “up to half of my kingdom”; Herod to the daughter of Herodias, the Persian king to Esther.

They share words that are rare in the original, without a quotation.

חֲצִיjatsiH2677ἡμίσουςhēmisousG2255“half”
מַּלְכוּתmaljutH4438βασιλείαςbasileiasG932“kingdom”

Esther 5:3, word by word

And the kingמֶּלֶךְmelech

king

A king who rules a people.

Where else “melech” appears

saidיֹּאמֶרyomer

say

To say with the mouth to someone what one thinks or wants, or to answer him.

Where else “yomer” appears

Estherאֶסְתֵּרester

Esther

Esther: the other name of Hadassah, the Jewish young woman, cousin of Mordecai, who became queen of Persia and delivered her people.

Where else “ester” appears

the queenמַּלְכָּהmalka

queen

Queen: a woman who reigns or the chief wife of a king. It is said of the queen of Sheba and of the queens in the book of Esther.

Where else “malka” appears

your petitionבַּקָּשָׁתֵbakashate

request

Request: what someone asks of a king or of God.

Where else “bakashate” appears

halfחֲצִיchatsi

half

One of two equal parts of something.

Where else “chatsi” appears

of the kingdomמַּלְכוּתmalchut

kingdom

A kingdom: the people and territory a king rules, or the one YHWH rules.

Where else “malchut” appears

and it will be givenיִנָּתֵןyinaten

give

To hand something over to someone: a gift, a payment, a charge or a land.

Where else “yinaten” appears

The context

2And it happened, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she won favor in his eyes; and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand, and Esther came near and touched the tip of the scepter.

3 · This verse (above)

4And Esther said, “If it seems good to the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have made for him.”

Read all of Esther 5

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