[Today’s English Version C.18; Revised Standard Version 14.7]

Glorified their gods means that the Jews “worshiped” (Today’s English Version), or paid homage to, the gods of the Gentiles.

The Greek says literally “You are righteous, Lord.” The implication is that, because God is dikaios, “righteous,” he did right in handing the Jews over to their enemies. Today’s English Version correctly captures the sense with the words “we deserved your punishment,” but it shifts the focus from a statement that God acted justly in punishing the Jews to focus on the fact that the Jews deserved their fate. Perhaps a better translation is “You did right in punishing us.”

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 .