The king’s question, Who is in the court?, may suggest that he had heard someone (see Biblia Dios Habla Hoy quoted below), or he may simply have been asking who, if any, of his officials were present in the palace (so Today’s English Version). Most versions follow the Hebrew text, perhaps implying that the king assumed someone must be in the palace. No time is stated. Some interpreters think that Haman entered at night while the king was reading, but others think that Haman entered the following morning. In any case, at the latest it must have been very early in the morning, since Haman was the only person present in the courtyard.

Now Haman had just entered: Today’s English Version sets this sentence off as a new paragraph to indicate that it is an explanatory sentence, a kind of parenthesis. It is a brief flashback. Both Revised Standard Version and Today’s English Version use a pluperfect verb tense, to make it clear that Haman was already in the court when the king asked his question. As in verse 3 above, the translator will need to mark the shifts in scene and in time carefully.

Biblia Dios Habla Hoy reverses the order of the two sentences, beginning the verse with the words “At that moment Haman entered the outer court….” The verse ends in Biblia Dios Habla Hoy with the words “ ‘Who is walking in the outer court?’ asked the king.”

On the outer court see comments on “the inner court” in 4.11.

On the gallows see 2.23.

That he had prepared for him: that is, that Haman had prepared for Mordecai.

Septuagint 6.4

Unlike the Hebrew, this verse in Greek begins with the words “While the king was inquiring about the goodwill of Mordecai.” What follows is introduced by the emphatic idou, “lo, behold,” to signal that it is surprising and important: “here [was] Haman in the courtyard!” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Today’s English Version interprets this phrase that has no verb to mean that Haman entered at that very moment. The king’s question that follows can imply that the king knew someone was in the courtyard.

Now Haman had come to speak: this sentence is parenthetical; it provides the background for Haman’s presence. The English pluperfect verb indicates that this action took place before the king asked his question. The translator will need to make the explanatory nature of this sentence very clear.

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 .