Though the Hebrew word “to fall” may mean to fall unintentionally, it sometimes means to fall intentionally, or “to throw oneself down” (Good News Translation, Segond). The latter meaning is intended here, so translators should avoid a word that will suggest that Haman fell unintentionally. Throwing oneself down before someone and taking hold of that person’s feet was a common way of pleading to someone (see Est 8.3; 1 Sam 25.24; 2 Kgs 4.27). Perhaps there is even a play on words and a touch of irony, since earlier Haman is warned that “he will surely fall” before Mordecai (see comments on 6.13), and here the author describes him as falling before Esther.
Revised Standard Version says that Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. Though the Hebrew says only that Esther was on the couch, some translations say “on which Esther lay” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or “where she was reclining” (New International Version), since meals were eaten while reclining rather than while sitting (see 1.6). To avoid ambiguities it may be preferable to use a more general expression like Revised Standard Version, which follows the Greek. Compare also Good News Translation‘s restructuring. Regarding the Hebrew word translated couch, see the comments on this same word (in the plural) in 1.6.
Will he even assault…?: the Hebrew is literally an infinitive phrase, not a complete sentence: “Even to assault the queen with me in the house?” Nearly all translations use a finite verb with a third person masculine subject, as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. However, the Hebrew may also be translated with a second person singular verb, as in Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “Are you wanting also to dishonor the queen in my presence and in my own house?” (see comments on the Septuagint text of this verse at ESG 7.8).
The basic meaning of the Hebrew verb assault is “to trample, to tread underfoot.” Its extended meaning is that of conquest, “to subdue, to subject, to conquer.” In this context most interpreters understand it to have connotations of sexual assault. Good News Translation makes this explicit (so also New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), while other versions more closely reflect the basic meaning of the Hebrew verb (Revised Standard Version, Segond). The translator needs to keep in mind the strong language used by the king in his great anger. So even though the Hebrew says literally that the king “said,” it may be better in this context to use a verb such as “cried” (New Jerusalem Bible), “cried out” (Good News Translation), or “exclaimed” (New International Version, Revised English Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). The king’s question is not asking for information. Rather the question functions to emphasize the king’s astonishment and anger. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente therefore turns this question into an exclamation, ending with an exclamation mark: “And he even dares to violate the queen while I am in the house!”
As the words left the mouth of the king is a close translation of the Hebrew. The receptor language may have a similar image, or it may restate as Good News Translation has done. Although the Hebrew image may be easy to translate, the translator should look for the appropriate expression in the receptor language. The meaning is not that words literally went out of the king’s mouth or that they were a command. The meaning is rather that things happened very quickly. The king had hardly finished exclaiming over Haman’s deed when Haman was already being covered (so Good News Translation). In some languages it may be expressed as “the king’s mouth had not dried from saying those words when Haman’s head was being covered.”
The meaning of they covered Haman’s face is not entirely clear. Interpreters have proposed a number of different changes in the letters of the Hebrew verb translated they covered in Revised Standard Version. If one accepts the Hebrew text without changes, the meaning is probably that the eunuchs serving the king immediately treated Haman as a man condemned to death by covering his head, just as the head of a man condemned to death may be covered before he is executed (for “eunuchs” see 1.10). Assuming this interpretation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente drops the literal description of the action and makes explicit the symbolic meaning of the action by rendering this final sentence as “With this word of the king, Haman was already condemned.”
If translators follow this interpretation, they may wish to include an explanatory footnote, following the model of either Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, or Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente. The note in Biblia Dios Habla Hoy (similarly in Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje) states “In some countries it was the practice to cover with a veil or hood the head of those condemned to die on the gallows.” With more detail the note in Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente says “Greece and Rome used to cover the head of those condemned to die; it is probable that this was done also in Persia, but we have no knowledge on the matter beyond that of the Bible.”
There are difficulties with this interpretation, however. The Hebrew does not actually say that his head was covered; it says his face was covered. Also, as the note in Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente states, there is no evidence apart from this verse in the Bible that it was Persian custom to cover the head of a person condemned to death.
The Septuagint says that Haman “turned aside his face,” which probably means that he was perplexed or confounded (see Septuagint discussion at ESG 7.8); and on the basis of that reading, some interpreters slightly alter the Hebrew verb to read that Haman’s face “grew red” (this is the proposed reading in the textual notes of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia). A note in New Jerusalem Bible suggests that a different change in the Hebrew text makes more sense here. The recommended translation of this interpretation would read “Haman’s face blanched,” that is, his face became white (this also appears in the textual notes of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia). The best solution, however, seems to be to follow the Masoretic Text.
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 .