Many translators interpret the Hebrew to mean that the Jews of verses 5-10 were those living in the citadel and not in the city proper (so New Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible). Good News Translation‘s use of the words “got together again,” however, suggests incorrectly that in verse 15 it is the same people acting again who acted in 9.5-10. Good News Translation emphasizes this interpretation by saying “more people” and “But again,” although these adverbs do not occur in the original text. The final clause is an exact repetition in the Hebrew of the final clause of verse 10 (see above).

On the Good News Translation translation of three hundred men as “three hundred people” (also New Revised Standard Version), see comments on 9.6.

Plunder: see comment on verses 7-10 above.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The author informs the reader that Queen Vashti refused to come at the davar “word” of the king “that was by the hand of the eunuchs.” This is the second term used in the book to refer to a command or an order. What form the “word” took or how it was conveyed is not clear, unless “by the hand of” may be taken to imply the delivery of a written message. In the Hebrew text there is ellipsis, that is, there is no verb to indicate how the message was conveyed. The translator may prefer to follow Revised Standard Version (also Bible en français courant) in using a verb that does not specify how it was transmitted (conveyed), rather than Good News Translation, which makes the command oral (“told”).

No motive is given for the queen’s refusal, but her refusal was necessary for the development of the story of how Esther saved her people.

At this is simply the Hebrew conjunction waw “and”; translators should use a normal transition term for continuing the narration from the queen’s refusal to the king’s anger.

The writer of Esther frequently uses repetition of words and phrases. Sometimes the repetition is in the form of words that are near synonyms. In other cases the repetition takes the form of phrases or sentences with nearly identical meaning. In this verse the king’s reaction to the queen’s refusal to obey his word is described twice: the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him. Though most translations keep this repetition (Revised Standard Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New International Version), some versions omit the second part as being redundant (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant). In keeping with the literary style of the book, the translator may wish to express the king’s anger first in normal prose fashion, “the king became very angry,” and then by a parallel idiomatic expression; for example, “his heart rose up,” “his heart burned,” or “his liver blackened.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

On the king’s servants see 1.3.

On the king’s gate see 2.19.

Bowed down and did obeisance: the author in his typical fashion uses two verbs to express essentially the same idea, that of paying homage. The first is more specifically the gesture of bowing or kneeling; the second more generally means venerating or worshiping. Both verbs can be used to describe showing reverence to gods or idols, but here they are used for honoring a human being. Good News Translation and Bible en français courant retain the repetition of two verbs with regard to the servants but restate the idea with regard to Mordecai. The text makes the contrast very clear, namely, that Mordecai did not kneel or pay homage. Some common language translations add the words “to show their respect” (Good News Translation and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje); and such an addition may be helpful in other languages if the verbs do not indicate the reason for bowing down.

For the king had so commanded: Good News Translation restructures the verse to make the actions consistent with the order in which they occur. First the king’s command is mentioned, then the obedience of all his officials, and lastly Mordecai’s disobedience. This may help to make the story easier to understand, but it also blurs one of the features of the author’s style, which is to present events in interlocking fashion. That is, the author frequently recalls an earlier event as the story moves forward. For example, in this verse the reader learns that everyone honored Haman because the king had so commanded concerning him, and then the plot moves forward as the new information is given that Mordecai did not do so.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

If it please the king: both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation 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…?” Good News Translation 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” (Good News Translation) 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 Good News Translation 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 Good News Translation 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.” Good News Translation interprets this to be in present time, “which I am preparing” (compare the Septuagint at ESG 5.18[4]), 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 Good News Translation 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.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

In two rhetorical questions, Esther personalizes the tragedy that she wishes to avert. Using two pairs of near synonyms, calamity and destruction, and people and kindred, the author heightens the drama of the scene. Good News Translation has restructured to form one sentence, thereby avoiding the apparent redundancy of two questions. The translator will need to consider the rules of dramatic literature in the receptor language to determine how to express Esther’s emotional plea.

Endure to see: the verb rendered “endure” most frequently means “to be able” in the Old Testament. It may also mean “to bear” or “to endure.” Compare New Jerusalem Bible: “For how can I bear to see the disaster…! And how can I bear to see the destruction…!” This may be stated as a negative in some languages. New Century Version, for example, says “I could not stand to see that terrible thing happen to my people. I could not stand to see my family killed.” In some languages rhetorical questions will express Esther’s emotion: “How could I see such a powerful bad thing fall on my people? How could I see the death of my family?”

Calamity … destruction: the first of these words is raʿah, which was used to describe Haman’s own situation (see 7.7). The second word, destruction, is the noun form of one of the three verbs that were used in the letters that were sent throughout the kingdom regarding the fate intended for the Jews (see 3.13, where the verb form is translated “to annihilate” in Revised Standard Version).

On my people and my kindred, see the comments on 2.10, 20.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Ordained here translates the same verb translated “to enjoin” in verse 21 above. It reflects the fact of the Jews’ imposing or establishing a practice upon themselves. The author then uses a new synonym to shift the perspective by saying that they took it upon themselves. The translator will need to determine whether receptor language style can express a similar shift in perspective, namely, from imposition upon oneself to acceptance onto oneself. Otherwise Good News Translation provides a good model for combining the two actions into one.

As noted above on verse 21, an alternative understanding of the verb translated ordained is proposed by some interpreters who render the Hebrew verb “confirmed.” FOX, for example, says “the Jews confirmed and took it upon themselves” (see comments on verse 21 above).

All who joined the Jews are non-Jews who become converts to Judaism (so Good News Translation, Nueva Biblia Española; and see 8.17).

Without fail: this adverbial phrase translates a Hebrew verb, “to pass over,” that is described by the negative “not.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates “they would not fail to observe.” One can also say “they would not omit to observe.” Good News Translation restates this in the affirmative with the adverb “regularly.”

These two days are the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar (see verse 21 above).

According to what was written refers to Mordecai’s letter (see verses 20-22 above).

In the last part of this verse, the author’s emphasis upon time becomes very obvious, as it has many times previously in the book (compare 1.13, 4.14). He refers to two days, the time appointed, and every year. The two days are the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar (see 9.21). Slight restructuring may be necessary; for example, “the time that was marked [or, cut]” or “the time Mordecai had set [or, fixed].” For every year the Hebrew says literally “in every year and year.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

As in 1.19-20, the king is addressed in the third person in verses 2-4. Since it is not natural in some languages to speak to someone in the third person without causing confusion, translators may want to change to the second person as does Good News Translation. At the same time the language style of the servants is that of the court, and this should be retained in translation. Good News Translation‘s casual style implies a camaraderie that is out of keeping with the setting.

Then: the Hebrew conjunction translated Then in Revised Standard Version indicates a progression in the action, expressing either a temporal relationship with verse 1 or a logical relationship. Some translations leave the relationship between verses 1 and 2 implicit and do not translate the Hebrew conjunction (New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant), while others use a temporal expression such as Then (Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New International Version, Nueva Biblia Española). Good News Translation seems to suggest that verse 2 follows as the result of the action of verse 1.

The identity of the king’s servants who attended him is not clear. Though they may be the same as the servants mentioned in 1.10, this is not necessarily the case. They advise the king to have a search made for young women who possess two qualities: like Queen Vashti, they must be “beautiful in appearance,” and they must be virgins.

Who attended him: these words translate a participle meaning “the ones serving him.” These apparently were persons who regularly served the king, so translators may say something like “the king’s personal attendants” (New International Version) or “courtiers” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente), that is, persons who serve at a royal court.

Let … be sought: literally “let them search.” The Hebrew verb has an indefinite third person plural subject. It is natural in some languages to translate this verb with a passive form such as “Let beautiful young virgins be sought” (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) or “Let there be sought out” (Revised English Bible). Other languages may use an indefinite pronoun “one” as the subject, as in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. Good News Translation “Why don’t you make a search?” should not be understood to mean that the king himself will travel throughout the empire in search of beautiful young virgins. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente “Why don’t you cause to search?” maintains the indefinite agent while suggesting that it is not the king himself who is to do the searching. Some languages will use a causative verb form such as “Let the king cause beautiful young virgins to be searched for for him.” Other languages will prefer to restate in the form of an active verb, “Let the king tell his servants to search for beautiful young virgins for him.”

Young virgins translates two Hebrew words. The first, naʿaroth, means “young women” (or, “maidens”) and may be used of young single girls who are still virgins, or also of young married women. The second word, bethuloth, often is used to refer to virgins, but it is frequently the context and not the word itself that specifies the idea of virginity. The context in Esther strongly suggests that the sense here is “virgins.” In verses 4-13 the words “maiden” and “maidens” are used without the Hebrew word bethulah, but verse 2 sets the context in which later references to “young woman” carry the component of sexual inexperience as part of the meaning. Many languages have a specific term for “young woman” that includes the idea of not being married. For virgin it may be necessary to use a descriptive phrase. This may sometimes be stated euphemistically as “not to have been with a man.”

For the king: the Hebrew as translated by Revised Standard Version makes it clear that it is on behalf of the king or for the king’s benefit that the virgins are to be sought.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Letters were written documents. They may be referred to as “what was written,” “the writings,” or “the [written] messages.”

The word couriers is literally “runners” in Hebrew (see also verse 15 below). It is possible that the messengers here were running on foot, as Good News Translation implies. However, the Persian Empire had couriers who were famous for carrying messages great distances quickly, traveling by horse. Therefore, since the same word occurs in 8.10, 14, where the “runners” were on horseback, it is also possible that the “couriers” here traveled by horse. Horses are explicitly mentioned in chapter 8, because emphasis in the plot of the story there requires more focus on the speed with which the letters were sent.

The king’s provinces: see comments on 1.1. The Good News Translation translation “every province of the empire” omits direct reference to the king, thereby shifting attention away from the central role of the king in all of the provinces.

No real distinction of meaning is intended among the words destroy, slay, and annihilate. The repetition of similar words indicating thoroughness of the action is consistent with the writer’s style and should be retained if it has the same effect in the receptor language. In addition to destroying in a general sense, and killing in a specific sense, some languages have a special verb or expression for killing in great quantities, that is, totally liquidating wild game or people.

All Jews, young … children: by specifically designating young and old, women and children, the writer is not excluding men. That men were to be killed is understood without being stated. The additional mention of women and children has the sense “even young and old, women and children.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes this explicit: “All Jews—men, women, and children.” In Hebrew the word order is literally “child and women.” The translator should follow this order of presentation as Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has done, unless it is unnatural or gives a wrong meaning. Since it is more natural in English to say “women and children,” most English translations have reversed the order.

Plunder their goods: their belongings were not merely to be taken, but all their wealth was to be seized as booty.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .