In order to focus on obligation, the Hebrew word translated “impose, enjoin, establish” is used three times in this summary of the institution of the Festival of Purim (see comments on verse 21). The letters were sent to (1) “impose [establish]” these days just as Mordecai and Esther had (2) “imposed” them on the Jews, and as the Jews had (3) “imposed” them on themselves (literally “on their own nefesh”) and their descendants. Although nefesh can mean many things, including “breath, soul, life, existence, person,” when it has a pronoun suffix as it does here, it refers to “self.” In this case it designates “themselves” (see 7.3 for comments on nefesh). In some languages this may be stated “upon their own bodies” or “upon their own heads.”
As noted on 9.21, the Hebrew word translated enjoined may be translated “confirmed.” FOX translates verse 31 as follows: “to confirm the observance of these days of Purim in their set times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had confirmed upon them, in the way that they confirm upon themselves and their descendants matters of fasting and the accompanying laments.” In other words, according to FOX, Esther and Mordecai did not write (verse 29) to the Jews with the purpose of commanding them to observe the feast of Purim; rather they wrote to confirm that it was right that the Jews should observe these days. While the Hebrew may be understood and translated in this manner, most translators agree with the interpretation found in Revised Standard Version and Today’s English Version.
Appointed seasons is in the plural, in contrast to the singular “appointed time” of verse 27 above. In this context it refers generally to time in terms of festival periods.
The words and Queen Esther are omitted by New English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible in keeping with their translation of verse 29, but there is no support for such an omission in the Hebrew manuscripts. HOTTP gives an “A” evaluation to the Hebrew text here.
Fasts and lamenting: see comments on 4.3, 16. It is not clear how the words with regard to their fasts and their lamenting relate to the rest of this verse, since they are added with no grammatical connection. Several interpretations are given by commentators:
(1) The meaning seems to be that Jews are to fast and mourn during the celebration of Purim. It is not clear, however, whether it is in these letters referred to in verse 30 or in an earlier letter by Mordecai (see verses 20 and 23) that instructions about fasting and mourning are given. If the instructions were given in these letters, then New Century Version provides one model: “… Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had sent out the order for the Jews. They had set up for themselves and their descendants these two days. They set them up so the Jews would give up eating and cry loudly.” New Jerusalem Bible follows the same interpretation but with a slight difference, saying that Esther wrote to tell the Jews to observe these days of Purim at the appointed time “with additional ordinances of fasts and lamentations.”
(2) Others understand that Mordecai had previously given instructions about fasting and mourning in an earlier letter. Compare New Revised Standard Version (similarly Bible en français courant): “[Letters were sent] giving orders that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as the Jew Mordecai and Queen Esther enjoined on the Jews, just as they had laid down for themselves and for their descendants regulations concerning their fasts and their lamentations.” One problem with this interpretation is that nothing in Mordecai’s earlier letter (9.21-22) mentions fasting and mourning. It does seem, however, from 9.22 that the Jews at first did fast and mourn in celebrating Purim. So this letter may instruct them to continue doing as they did from the beginning and as Mordecai had told them to do. Perhaps this second interpretation is the best of the three listed here.
(3) A third interpretation is that the Jews are to begin observing the days of Purim, just as they have already been observing other religious festivals during which they fasted and mourned (see, for example, Zech 7.5; 8.19). This interpretation seems to be the basis for the New Jerusalem Bible translation: “These days of Purim shall be observed at their proper time, as Mordecai the Jew—and now Queen Esther—has obligated them to do, and just as they have assumed for themselves and their descendants the obligation of the fasts with their lamentations.”
Septuagint 9.31
The Greek text is very different from the Hebrew in this verse. As notes in both New Revised Standard Version and Today’s English Version indicate, the meaning of the last part of this verse is unclear. The Greek is literally, “And Mordecai and Queen Esther themselves established, by their own authority, standing by their own health and their will.” Different translations accordingly vary greatly in how they render it. For example, in a footnote Traduction œcuménique de la Bible offers three possible interpretations of the reference to “their health.”
Bible en français courant offers “Esther and Mordecai had established this festival likewise for themselves and their decision was also to be for their own good.” Revised English Bible interprets “they had made themselves responsible for this decision and staked their life upon the plan.” With such a diversity of interpretations, translators are advised to follow their base text here.
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 .