Esther 5:7

Paleo Hebrew Niqqud

RBT Hebrew Interlinear:

ותען וַתַּעַן

None

STRONGS

Strong's Lexicon

ו

wāw

Definition

sequential 'and'

Root

From H8505; a prefix

Exhaustive

Vav Conversive/Consecutive: The category “vav conversive / vav consecutive” is not an ancient grammatical datum; it is a modern explanatory construct, developed by early Hebraists to force Biblical Hebrew into a Latin/chronological tense model that it simply does not share.

The notion arose in early modern grammar (17th–19th c.) when scholars assumed:
- verbs must encode tense,
- narratives must advance by past → present → future,
- therefore Hebrew forms that “don’t behave” must be converted.

Source: The Aonic Nature of Biblical Hebrew Prepositions

ענה

ʻânâh

Definition

properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extension to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce

Root

a primitive root;

Exhaustive

a primitive root; properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extension to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce; give account, afflict (by mistake for ענה), (cause to, give) answer, bring low (by mistake for ענה), cry, hear, Leannoth, lift up, say, [idiom] scholar, (give a) shout, sing (together by course), speak, testify, utter, (bear) witness. See also בית ענות, בית ענת.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance — H6030

Fürst

Fürst Lexicon

עָנָה

verb • Root ענה • Strongs / High • Page 1110

To reply, answer, announce, reveal, declare, or make a judge's sentence; also, to procure, accomplish, hear, comply with, or sing (alternate song/choir); to begin to cry, shout, or speak; in judicial style, to testify, attest, bear witness.

עָנָה

verb qal / pih / hif • Root ענה • Strongs / High • Page 1111

I. To agree; (Pih.) to strike up, a singing match, to sing alternately; (Hif.) to grant. The fundamental significance is to turn, to wind, to turn back, applied to 1. Answering or replying. 2. Repeating, responding, or alternating. 3. Aiming at, intending. 4. Acting, carrying on, doing.

עָנָה

verb qal • Root ענה • Strongs / High • Page 1111

II. Intransitive: 1. To be low, sunk, of the ground. 2. Transferred to persons: to be bowed down, oppressed; to be suppressed, faint-hearted, dispirited, bowed, unfortunate, miserable; to be vexed, to be in toil. Figuratively: to be humble, piously-patient, meek, mild; to be miserable, suffering, unfortunate, helpless.

עָנָה

verb • Root ענה • Strongs / High • Page 1112

To press, enemies. (Hithp.) to be afflicted, to suffer, endure, to bow or submit oneself.

Gesenius

Gesenius Lexicon

עָנָה

verb • Root ענה • Page 517

2. to suffer, to be bowed down or oppressed (Ps. 116:10, 119:67). Includes conjugations: Niph. (to be afflicted, Ps. 119:107), Pi. (to oppress, humble, or ravish a woman, Gen. 16:6, 34:2), Pu. (to be oppressed, Ps. 119:71), Hiph. (to humble, 1 K. 8:35), Hithpa. (to humble one's self, Gen. 16:9).

עָנָה

a proper verb • Page 516

I. 1. To answer. Construed with an accus. of the person (Job 1: 7) or an accus. of the thing (Job 40: 2). 2. To hear, liter. to answer a prayer, used particularly of God. 1 Sam. 9: 17. Ps. 3: 5. 3. To begin to speak, particularly in later Hebrew. Job 3: 2. 4. To give testimony, to testify. Gen. 30: 33. Ex. 20: 16. 5. To pass a sentence, responsum dare; spoken of a judge. Ex. 23: 2. 6. To cry, shout, for the onset or for victory. Ex. 32: 18. Jer. 51: 14. 7. To sing. Ex. 15: 21. Niph. 1. To be answered. Job 11: 2. 2. To be heard. Job 19: 7. Pi. i. q. Kal no. 7. to sing. Ex. 32: 18. Is. 27: 2.

עָנָה

a proper verb • Page 516

II. 1. To bestow labour or toil on any thing, to busy one's self therewith, construed with בְ. Citations: Ecc. 1: 14. 3: 10.

conjunctive, Verb Qal sequential imperfect third person feminine singular

LXX: ἀπεκρίθη ὑπολαβὼν ἀποκριθεὶσ ἀπεκρίθησαν ''

LXX Usage Statistics

H6030b:

ἀπεκρίθη 82× (21.0%)

ὑπολαβὼν 25× (7.2%)

ἀποκριθεὶσ 22× (6.0%)

ἀπεκρίθησαν 20× (5.2%)

'' 11× (2.7%)

ἐπάκουσόν 10× (2.8%)

---% 8× (1.9%)

--- 7× (2.0%)

εἰσάκουσόν 6× (1.7%)

ἐπακούσεται 6× (1.7%)

אסתר אֶסְתֵּר

None

STRONGS

Strong's Lexicon

אסתר

ʼEçtêr

Definition

Ester, the Jewish heroine

Root

of Persian derivation;

Exhaustive

of Persian derivation; Ester, the Jewish heroine; Esther.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance — H635

Fürst

Fürst Lexicon

אֶסְתֵּר

noun proper • Lemma_Lookup • Page 171

Persian proper noun of the Jewish wife of Ahasuerus, female hero of the book of Esther; signifies 'star' (Venus-star).

Gesenius

Gesenius Lexicon

אֶסְתֵּר

f. proper name • Page 64

A Jewess, heroine of the book which bears her name. At first called Hadassah (הֲדַסָּה). Meanings suggested: green myrtle or star.

Noun proper name feminine

LXX:

LXX Usage Statistics

H0635:

No stats available

ותאמר וַתֹּאמַר

and she is saying

STRONGS

Strong's Lexicon

ו

wāw

Definition

sequential 'and'

Root

From H8505; a prefix

Exhaustive

Vav Conversive/Consecutive: The category “vav conversive / vav consecutive” is not an ancient grammatical datum; it is a modern explanatory construct, developed by early Hebraists to force Biblical Hebrew into a Latin/chronological tense model that it simply does not share.

The notion arose in early modern grammar (17th–19th c.) when scholars assumed:
- verbs must encode tense,
- narratives must advance by past → present → future,
- therefore Hebrew forms that “don’t behave” must be converted.

Source: The Aonic Nature of Biblical Hebrew Prepositions

אמר

ʼâmar

Definition

to say (used with great latitude)

Root

a primitive root;

Exhaustive

a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude); answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, [phrase] (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, [idiom] desire, determine, [idiom] expressly, [idiom] indeed, [idiom] intend, name, [idiom] plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), [idiom] still, [idiom] suppose, talk, tell, term, [idiom] that is, [idiom] think, use (speech), utter, [idiom] verily, [idiom] yet.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance — H559

Fürst

Fürst Lexicon

אָמַר

verb • Root אמר • Strongs_Numbers • Page 155

1. (not used) to stand prominently upwards, to project upwards, hence to be elevated. 2. to say, to speak, to command; to press out sounds from within.

אָמַר

verb • Root אמר • Strongs_Numbers • Page 755

to say, speak

Gesenius

Gesenius Lexicon

אָמַר

verb • Root אמר • Page 58

1. to say (dico). Differs from דבר (to speak) in that אָמַר is almost uniformly followed by the words spoken (Lev. 1:2; Gen. 44:16). 2. to think. (Speaking and thinking).

אָמַר

verb • Root אמר • Page 59

To command (Est 1:17, 1 Chr 21:17); to praise (Ps 40:11). Niph.: to be said, to be called holy (Is 4:3). Hiph.: to declare solemnly, to promise (Deut 26:17, 18). Hithpa.: to boast one's self (Ps 94:4), or to exercise dominion.

conjunctive, Verb Qal sequential imperfect third person feminine singular

LXX:

LXX Usage Statistics

H0559:

No stats available

שאלתי שְׁאֵלָתי

upon

STRONGS

Strong's Lexicon

שאלה

shᵉʼêlâh

Definition

a petition; by implication, a loan

Root

or שלה; (1 Samuel 1:17), from H7592 (שאל);

Exhaustive

or שלה; (1 Samuel 1:17), from שאל; a petition; by implication, a loan; loan, petition, request.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance — H7596

י

Definition

my, personal posessive - noun suffix: 1st person common singular

Root

Exhaustive

Personal posessive pronoun - suffix for nouns, adjectives and passive participles: 1st person singular

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance — H9020

Fürst

Fürst Lexicon

שְׁאֵלָה

unknown • Root שאל • Lemma_Lookup • Page 1368

Amshaspands, and in edicts the seven counsellors of the king (in the Persian period). May also be = מִסְאַלָה (quaestio, causa).

שָׁאֵלָה

noun feminine • Root שאל • Lemma_Lookup • Page 1368

Same as בַּקָּשָׁה request; hence to make a request, to ask, or to grant a request; a thing lent, a loan.

Gesenius

Gesenius Lexicon

שְׁאֵלָה

f. verbal noun • Root שאל • Page 648

1. A petition, request (Judg. 8:24, 1 K. 2:16, Est. 5:6, Job 6:8). 2. What is lent, a loan (1 Sam. 2:20).

Noun common feminine singular construct, Suffix pronominal first person both singular

LXX: αἴτημά αἴτησιν ''

LXX Usage Statistics

H7596:

αἴτημά 4× (26.9%)

αἴτησιν 3× (22.7%)

'' 2× (12.9%)

ובקשתי וּבַקָּשָׁתִי׃

None

STRONGS

Strong's Lexicon

ו

wə

Definition

and

Root

From H8505; a prefix

Exhaustive

The conjunctive ו is not merely a fixed coordinator with a stable semantic value (“and/but/or/then”). Its core function is linkage, not meaning. It binds units into a single discourse field—phrases, clauses, or whole scenes—while leaving the logical relation to be inferred from aspect, word order, genre, and context.

So the variability in translation (“and / but / or / even / then”) is not polyvalence in the particle; it is underspecification by design. The language expects the reader/hearer to perceive the relation rather than have it encoded.

Crucially, conjunctive ו does not imply temporal sequence. It implies continuity of attention. Think of it as:
- “this belongs with what precedes,”
- “remain within the same frame,”
“do not reset the discourse.”
This is why Hebrew can chain dozens of clauses with ו without subordination or explicit logic markers. The text advances by accumulation, not by branching syntactic trees. Meaning arises from the interaction:
- Aspect (qatal / yiqtol / participle),
- Position (fronted elements, resumptive nouns),
- Genre (law, narrative, oracle),
- Context (who speaks, to whom).
The ו simply keeps the circuit closed so these cues can operate together. Remove tense assumptions, and the system becomes coherent.

Source: The Aonic Nature of Biblical Hebrew Prepositions

בקשה

baqqâshâh

Definition

a petition

Root

from H1245 (בקש);

Exhaustive

from בקש; a petition; request.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance — H1246

י

Definition

my, personal posessive - noun suffix: 1st person common singular

Root

Exhaustive

Personal posessive pronoun - suffix for nouns, adjectives and passive participles: 1st person singular

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance — H9020

Fürst

Fürst Lexicon

קֶשֶׁת

noun / feminine • Root קשה • Consonantal / Low • Page 1306

A bow (pl. קְשָׁתוֹת); the same as the noun קֶשֶׁת.

Matched via prefix/suffix stripped stem

קֶשֶׁת

noun feminine • Root קשת • Consonantal / Low • Page 1305

1. a bow for shooting... 2. Fig. strength, power, might... 3. the rainbow, iris.

Matched via prefix/suffix stripped stem

קַשָּׁת

noun / masculine • Root קשת • Consonantal / Low • Page 1306

A bowman (formed from קְשָׁתָה).

Matched via prefix/suffix stripped stem

Gesenius

Gesenius Lexicon

בַּקָּשָׁה

noun feminine • Root בקש • Page 113

request, petition, prayer. References: Est. 5: 7, 8; 7: 3.

Conjunction, Noun common feminine singular construct, Suffix pronominal first person both singular

LXX: ἀξιοῖσ ἀξίωμά

LXX Usage Statistics

H1246:

ἀξιοῖσ 2× (31.0%)

ἀξίωμά 2× (24.0%)

RBT Translation:

No verse found

RBT Paraphrase:
No verse found

Julia Smith Literal 1876 Translation:
And Esther will answer and say, My asking and my seeking:

LITV Translation:
And replied and said, As to my petition and my request,

Brenton Septuagint Translation:
And she said, My request and my petition are: