The exact meaning of much of verse 6 is not clear, although it obviously emphasizes the splendor of the banquet. Not connected grammatically with the preceding verse, it is a list or catalog of items describing the royal setting.
The beginning of the verse is literally “white stuff [either cotton or linen], finely woven material [either cotton or linen], purple wool, held fast with cords of fine linen and purple wool on rings of silver and pillars of precious stone and alabaster.” The image described appears to be that purple and white curtains were used as awnings to provide shade from the sun. A descriptive phrase such as “cloths that were spread out and hung from pillars” may be used. The curtains were attached by cords to rings fastened to marble pillars.
The invited guests reclined on the couches while they ate (see Amos 6.4). The Hebrew word for “bed” sometimes refers to a mat placed on the ground and sometimes to the frame on which the mat was placed. Here it is probably the frame itself. The Persians had couches and tables of gold and silver, which may have been covered or plated with gold and silver, or which may have been made from gold and silver.
A mosaic pavement: the ground in the courtyard was paved, that is, it was covered with stones to make the surface hard and beautiful. The surface of the courtyard was a mosaic. It was made of four kinds of colored stones that were arranged in beautiful patterns or designs. Several of the Hebrew words for stones occur only here in the Old Testament, and their meaning is not certain, as the differences in translations indicate.
The first stone is called porphyry in Revised Standard Version. This is a rock that has feldspar crystals, that is, large crystal-like minerals contained within a dark red or purple mass of fine-grained rock. Good News Translation translates this stone as “red feldspar”; Revised English Bible calls it “malachite.”
The second stone is called marble in Revised Standard Version and “white marble” in Good News Translation. Marble is a form of limestone that can be cut and polished for building, or that can be carved by artists for making sculptures.
The third item in the list is apparently mother-of-pearl, which is not a stone. It is the inside of the shell of the clam that produces pearls. The inside of these shells has soft colors like a rainbow. The mother-of-pearl was probably used for making delicate patterns by being inserted into the other stones.
The fourth item also is a word of uncertain meaning. Revised Standard Version and New Jerusalem Bible simply use a generic expression, precious stones; New American Bible and New Revised Standard Version use a similar general expression, “colored stones”; Good News Translation and Revised English Bible say “blue turquoise,” a stone that is found in Persia. New Jerusalem Bible reads “mosaics.”
Even though equivalents for the various names of stones given in the different versions may be difficult to find, it is important to indicate that valuable stones of different colors were used to make a pavement, or “floor,” for the courtyard. Since the names and colors of several of these stones are not known with certainty, the translator may be advised to follow the model of Bible en français courant, which says “a mosaic of red, white, pearly, and black slabs.” In place of mosaic a technical verb such as “laying” or “finishing” a floor may be used.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .