Esther 3:7
What does Esther 3:7 mean?
A plain-English look at Esther 3:7 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Esther 3:7 means
Haman turns to divination by lot—casting “Pur”—to fix the time for his scheme. It happens in the first month, Nisan, of Ahasuerus’s twelfth year, and the lot falls on the twelfth month, Adar. The long interval between decision and execution underscores both Haman’s superstition and the providential delay that will later allow for reversal. The empire appears to run on chance and royal whim, yet the timing is not accidental in the story’s arc. The detail of months and procedure shows the cold calculation behind the plot, disguising malice under the veneer of ritual and fate. Haman seeks the most “favorable” moment to commit evil.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
KJV
King James Version · 1611In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949In the first month, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, from day to day and from month to month they went on looking for a sign given by Pur (that is chance) before Haman, till the sign came out for the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862In the first month--it <FI>is<Fi> the month of Nisan--in the twelfth year of the king Ahasuerus, hath one caused to fall Pur (that <FI>is<Fi> the lot) before Haman, from day to day, and from month to month, <FI>to<Fi> the twelfth, it <FI>is<Fi> the month of Adar.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752In the first month (which is called Nisan) in the twelfth year of the reign of Assuerus, the lot was cast into an urn, which in Hebrew is called Phur, before Aman, on what day and what month the nation of the Jews should be destroyed: and there came out the twelfth month, which is called Adar.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman for each day and for each month, to the twelfth [month], that is, the month Adar.
Context
After resolving to destroy all Jews (v. 6), Haman next determines timing by casting lots. This step precedes his appeal to the king (vv. 8–9), where he will present his case and sweeten it with silver. The temporal gap to Adar sets narrative tension: a decree will be issued soon, but its deadly day lies months ahead. That delay becomes crucial for what later unfolds in Esther’s intervention.
v.6But he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had made known to him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.
v.7This passage
v.8And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Ezekiel 21:21
For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows to and fro, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver.
- Esther 9:17
This was doneon the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
- Esther 2:16
So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
- Nehemiah 2:1
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
- Proverbs 16:33
The lot is cast into the lap; But the whole disposing thereof is of Jehovah.
- Ezra 6:15
And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.