3 Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And, what is your request? Even to half the kingdom it shall be given to you.”
Mark 6:23
23 And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, up to hal of my kingdom”.
– King Herod
Interesting that Artexerxes says that he will give half the kingdom, and Herod uses the exact same words. One brought the freedom of the Jews and the other – the death of John the Baptist. Was the devil mocking?