Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other translations make Esther’s words in verse 8 below to be the content of the request begun in this verse. It is preferable, though, to understand the invitation to a second banquet in verse 8 as an interruption of the request and not the request itself. Thus La Bible Pléiade presents Esther’s words in this verse in the form of a suspended sentence, “My petition and my request is….” This same interpretation is also expressed in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Segond, and New Jerusalem Bible. According to this interpretation Esther’s request is not that they come to a banquet again the next day. Rather Esther withholds her real request and tells the king that she will make the request the next day if he will return then for another dinner. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente reflects the same interpretation but translates Esther’s words in the form of a question: “What thing will I ask?” Verse 8 is then not the statement of what she will ask but rather a request to delay her request until the next day (similarly Moffatt). Esther refers to her wish with the same two words the king used in verse 6.

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 .