Revised Standard Version indicates the relationship of this verse to the preceding verse by translating the Hebrew conjunction as So.

Most translations understand the words the king commanded this to be done to refer to both requests of verse 13 (so apparently Revised Standard Version). It is possible that the word this refers only to the first request (so Anchor Bible: “So the king commanded this to be done: a decree was issued in Susa; and Haman’s ten sons were exposed”).

A decree was issued repeats Esther’s vocabulary of the preceding verse, where she uses dat (see comments above). It may be necessary to change from passive voice to active, perhaps using an indefinite third person plural, “they issued a decree.”

The ten sons of Haman were hanged: lest one think that the ten sons were alive at the time that they were hanged, Today’s English Version says “the bodies … were publicly displayed.” This translation conveys the negative connotations associated with hanging, while not specifying how the bodies were displayed.

Septuagint 9.14

He permitted this to be done apparently refers to granting permission to destroy the enemies of the Jews on the fourteenth of Adar also (9.13a). Whereas the Hebrew says that the king “commanded” this to be done, the Greek says that he permitted it to be done.

The Greek states explicitly that the king handed over to the Jews of the city the bodies of Haman’s sons, while such information is implicit in Hebrew. Today’s English Version condenses and restates, and thus partially harmonizes with its rendering of the Hebrew version of this verse.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on the Book of Esther — Deuterocanon: The Greek Text. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .