[Today’s English Version C.3; Revised Standard Version 13.10]

Heaven and earth: in the same words that are found in Septuagint Gen 1.1, Mordecai recalls God’s act of creation. In Hebrew thought “the heaven(s) and the earth” represent the entire universe with all that is in it. If possible it is preferable to retain explicit reference both to heaven and to earth for example, “the high place above and the ground below” or “the sky and the earth.”

Every … thing under heaven: literally “every wonderful thing on the [earth] under heaven.” Though the Greek lacks the noun “earth,” it does contain the feminine article “the,” and it means “all … things on earth.” These things are described as being wonderful. That is, they are “marvelous, things that evoke astonishment.”

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 .