[Today’s English Version F.7; Revised Standard Version 10.10]

Verse 10 begins with the words “Because of this,” which refer to what has been said in the previous verse.

The word lots is used in this verse with the meaning “share,” “portion,” or “destiny” (see Isa 17.14; Jer 13.25). New Jerusalem Bible says “Two destinies he appointed,” while La Sainte Bible: La version Etablie par les moines de Maredsous renders it “God prepared two destinies.” An equivalent image may be found to translate the Greek; for instance, “therefore God cut two destinies” or “God marked out two shares.” It may also be restated as “God prepared two ways of things that would happen.” It should not be interpreted to mean “two fates.” A footnote may be needed to explain the double meaning of “lots” in the original text, that is, its use in 3.7 and here, and the implied allusion to Purim (9.26).

In the Hebrew text of Esther, lots were cast to determine the will of the gods in knowing when to destroy the Jewish people (3.7). In this verse it is said that “God did [or, established] two lots.” The first lot was for the Jewish people and the second lot was for all the nations, that is, for all the “other” nations (Today’s English Version) besides the Jews. Since the second lot includes all people except the Jews, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente says “and the other for all the pagan nations.” Of course the word “pagan” in this context means “non-Jewish nations.” Perhaps the rendering in Nueva Biblia Española will be a more useful model for many languages: “and another for the Gentiles,” that is, for the non-Jewish people. Sometimes “all the other nations” may be referred to as “all the stranger nations,” that is, the “nations that are strangers.” Sometimes they are referred to as “the people who do not know the real [the living] God.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on the Book of Esther — Deuterocanon: The Greek Text. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .