Translation commentary on Esther 5:13   

All this refers to the honors that Haman recounts in the preceding verses. These honors do not satisfy him; they are of no use to him as long as Mordecai retains his position. Some versions highlight Haman’s emotions with regard to his riches and honors. They are of no value to him, they mean nothing to him (Good News Translation), or “they give him no pleasure” (Bible en français courant).

The words so long as I see may need to be expressed differently in many languages. The Hebrew text says literally “at every time.” New Jerusalem Bible says “all this means nothing to me every time I see that Jew Mordecai….” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible says “each time that I see….” The Septuagint has also interpreted this to be “whenever I see.” However, the Hebrew word translated “every” may also mean “all, whole” when it is followed by a singular noun, as is the case here. Therefore Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, and others have interpreted this phrase to express duration, so long as. If this meaning is chosen by translators, they may find it necessary to restructure the sentence. A possible model is “the whole time that I am still seeing Mordecai the Jew sitting….” Either of the above interpretations is possible, so translators may choose to follow the interpretation of the base text that they normally follow.

Mordecai the Jew: neither the Hebrew nor the Greek imply the disgust and hatred expressed by the English translation “that Jew” (Good News Translation and Revised English Bible). “Mordecai the Jew” is an expression that occurs a number of times in Esther without this strong negative sense (see 6.10; 8.7; 9.29, 31; 10.3), and the Greek has used the same pattern.

Sitting at the king’s gate probably means that Mordecai had a position in the royal administration (see comment on 2.19). Revised English Bible says “in attendance at the king’s court.”

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 .

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