This verse is one of the most dramatic in the entire Book of Esther. In the first part there is a play on words, the two most common legal terms occurring in juxtaposed clauses. These are davar “word” and dat “law,” translated respectively as order and decree in Revised Standard Version. Revised Standard Version says that the decree was issued. The verb in Hebrew is literally “was given,” but in this context a technical term such as “issued,” “publicized,” or “announced” may be more appropriate in some languages.

On couriers see 3.13. These couriers went in haste; literally “they went hurrying.” Perhaps the idea of going quickly is implicit in the Good News Translation translation “runner,” but most translations keep this explicit: “The couriers went out posthaste” (New Jerusalem Bible).

On Susa the capital see comments on 1.2.

In the second half of the verse, the author uses a very simple style by setting two brief statements together, the one directly following the other. A city thrown into total confusion is depicted in stark contrast to the king and his prime minister, who sit down to drink. Poetic form in the receptor language may offer models of juxtaposition that will reflect the sharp contrast of the original. In some languages it may be more effective not to specify a relationship between the two sentences by introducing a conjunction as Revised Standard Version has done with “but,” and as Good News Translation has done with “while.”

The king and Haman sat down to drink: perhaps the words to drink should not be understood in the limited sense of drinking but should be understood in the sense of “to feast” as in 7.1 (so New Jerusalem Bible, Nueva Biblia Española, New American Bible). If the verb to drink is kept in translation, some languages must supply an object for the verb. The most natural object is the word “wine” as in 7.2.

The city of Susa was perplexed: the Hebrew word used to describe the city of Susa does not occur often in the Old Testament (see “entangled” in Exo 14.3; “perplexed” in Joel 1.18). It describes a state of bewilderment (New International Version) or consternation (New Jerusalem Bible). The inhabitants of the city of Susa were “dumbfounded” (New Jerusalem Bible) by the decree issued against the Jews (see comments on Greek verse at ESG 3.22[15]).

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 .