On princes and servants see comments on 1.3.
It was Esther’s banquet: literally the Hebrew says “Esther’s banquet,” and the words are not connected grammatically with the rest of the verse. The meaning appears to be that the king “gave a banquet in Esther’s honor” (so Today’s English Version, Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), not that Esther gave the banquet. Different languages will express in their own ways the idea of giving a feast in honor of someone; for example, “he did a great feast because of [or, for] her.”
He also granted a remission of taxes: the word translated as “a remission of taxes” in Revised Standard Version occurs only here in the Old Testament, and the meaning is disputed by scholars. It probably is related to an Aramaic word meaning “a causing to rest.” Though most interpreters understand the word to mean “a holiday,” that is, a rest from work (so Today’s English Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised English Bible), other possible meanings are “tax relief” (Revised Standard Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), “exemption from military service” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible margin), “amnesty” (New Jerusalem Bible and New Revised Standard Version margins), “emancipation of slaves” (New International Version margin), and “truce” (Segond). Since interpreters most often understand the meaning to be either “rest from work” or “rest from paying taxes,” translators are encouraged to choose either of these two possible meanings.
Gifts: since this same word is used in Amos 5.11 with reference to wheat or grain, in this passage it may refer to gifts of wheat. Most translations, however, take the word in the more general sense of “gifts.”
With royal liberality: the same Hebrew expression occurs in 1.7, “according to the bounty of the king.” Some translations understand this to mean that the king acted with generosity (Revised Standard Version, Bible en français courant), but it may simply mean “in royal fashion” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). The sentence may then be restated to read “He gave things as kings do” or “in the manner of kings.”
Septuagint 2.18
This verse is considerably different in the Septuagint from the Hebrew. The banquet, which is called a “drinking party” (see comment on LXX 1.5), is said to have lasted for a week and is explicitly said to be a celebration of the king’s marriage to Esther. The Greek does not say that the king gave gifts. One possible way of translating this is to say “the king did [or, made] a feast … over the taking of Esther to be his wife.”
As in the Hebrew, the meaning of the Greek word “release” is ambiguous. Most translations understand the sense to be “release from taxes” (New Revised Standard Version, Today’s English Version, Revised English Bible).
On the words his Friends see comments on the Greek text of 1.3.
Officers is literally “powers, authorities,” or as Bible en français courant translates, “highly placed personages.”
Those who were under his rule: these words emphasize the power and authority of the king more than the Hebrew text does. Some translations, however, translate these words more in agreement with the wording of the Hebrew as “the whole empire” (Today’s English Version) or “the whole population of his kingdom” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). It is better, though, to maintain the focus of the Greek, as in Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, “all the subjects,” and Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, “the subjects of his empire [kingdom].”
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 .