If it please the king: both Revised Standard Version and Today’s English Version reflect the language of the court. Esther cannot address the king in public with terms of familiarity. Revised Standard Version therefore continues the quotation in the third person, let the king and Haman come.
The Hebrew verb “let [the king] come” expresses Esther’s will. The Hebrew form may be used to express a command, a wish, a request, an invitation, permission, or advice, depending on the context. Here Esther is expressing an invitation, not a command. Revised English Bible says “If it please your majesty … will you come today, my lord, and Haman with you…?” Today’s English Version has changed the invitation to a statement in the first person, “I would like,” which is more natural in present-day English. The translator will need to find the most natural and appropriate way to say this in the receptor language. Creating unnatural expressions in an attempt to find a direct equivalent of the Hebrew form should be avoided.
Dinner: the development of the plot of the Book of Esther revolves around banquets, those offered by the king and the queen, those offered by Esther, and that of Purim. Esther’s “banquet” (Today’s English Version) is not the grandiose feast seen in chapter 1, but neither is it a simple “meal” or merely an invitation to “come and eat.” Although the Hebrew term is the same as in 1.3 and in 1.9, some versions (Bible en français courant, New Jerusalem Bible) call those “banquets” and this a “feast.” The word chosen to refer to this meal will no doubt determine what verb will be used to translate prepared (compare “organized,” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).
This day renders a Hebrew word that may refer to the daylight hours or more generally to a calendar day of twenty-four hours. The Hebrew does not specify whether the banquet is to be held during the hours of sunlight or whether it is to be held in the evening. New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and many other translations say “today.” The Today’s English Version translation “tonight” assumes that the banquet will be held after the sun has set. Since the Hebrew does not specify, perhaps it is better to use a general term that may include either the daylight hours or the nighttime, if such a term exists.
The expression “be my guests” used by Today’s English Version is a special English usage conveying an invitation. It should be interpreted to imply neither a simple guest-host relationship in this context, nor a form of seduction on the part of Esther.
The end of verse 4 in the Hebrew is literally “that I have prepared for him.” Today’s English Version interprets this to be in present time, “which I am preparing” (compare the Septuagint below), but most translations retain a past tense of a perfective verb form (so Revised Standard Version).
Since Esther speaks to the king in the third person, she says “for him” rather than “for you.” Revised Standard Version makes clear that the pronoun refers to the king: that I have prepared for the king. Though English translations such as Today’s English Version are ambiguous, since the pronoun “you” can be singular or plural, in this verse the word “you” is singular (so Bible en français courant). If a second person singular pronoun is used in translation, it must not carry the connotation of disrespect.
Septuagint 5.4
The words Today is a special day for me are not in the Hebrew. Bible en français courant and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translate “Today is a great day for me.” Esther does not say how it is a remarkable or important day. She makes the statement and then offers her invitation.
Let him and Haman come is a formal invitation. The Greek adds emphasis by saying “therefore if it is pleasing to the king, let him come, both he and Haman, to the dinner that I shall prepare today.” As in the Hebrew above, Today’s English Version interprets the verb tense in the present. It is preferable to translate the Hebrew as it stands and the Greek as it stands.
Today: the comments on the Hebrew text apply here also, where Today’s English Version has stated specifically that the banquet is to be held in the evening, that is, “tonight.”
Today’s English Version has added the words “for you” at the end of the verse. These words are only implicit in the Greek text. If translators follow the model of Today’s English Version by adding “for you,” the pronoun “you” should probably be plural (see 5.8 in the Septuagint).
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 .