SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 2000

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 1:2

1:2

his royal throne: A throne is the special seat on which a king would sit, especially on special occasions when he was meeting with officials or other visitors. It may have been decorated with or even made of gold. Here, however, it is used in a figurative way and refers only to the fact that he was king. The Display shows one way of translating this meaning.

citadel of Susa: There were three major cities in the empire, and the king had a palace in each one. This story took place in the city of Susa, where the king lived during the winter. The Hebrew word which the Berean Standard Bible translates citadel means “palace, fortress” and refers to a part of the city which was raised above the rest of the city and fortified with high walls against attack. The king’s palace would probably have been inside this fortified area.

Here are some other ways to translate citadel :

capital city (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version)
-or-
important city
-or-
capital city

© 2000 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 2:13

2:13b

whatever she requested: This means any ornaments, jewelry, clothes, perfumes or cosmetics she wanted to make herself beautiful when she went to the king.

harem: See note on 2:3b.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 4:12

-13

Paragraph 4:12–14

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 7:4

7:4a

have been sold out: This could refer to the money Haman offered to the king (see note on 3:9b) or as a way of saying “betrayed” or “handed over to.” It is probably the latter.

destruction, death, and annihilation: These are translated from the same three Hebrew verbs as in 3:13b. See the note on that verse. Even if you do not use three words in your translation, be sure to use language that is very strong and includes the idea of no Jew being left alive.

7:4c

no such distress would justify burdening the king: The meaning of this clause in Hebrew is not clear because several of the words have more than one meaning. The two most likely meanings are:

(1) If Haman had intended only to sell the Jews as slaves, that would not have been sufficient reason to trouble the king with the problem.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Century Version, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word)

(2) The word translated distress in the Berean Standard Bible can also mean “enemy” and the verb translated burdening can also mean “compensate.” So the expression means that no enemy would be able to compensate for the loss to the king caused by the death of so many of the people in the empire.

(New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 9:12

9:12a

In the citadel of Susa: See note on 1:2.

9:12b

What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces?: This is a rhetorical question. It means that if the Jews had killed 500 people in just one city, they must have killed many more than 500 in all the towns throughout the kingdom.

9:12c

These words are similar to what the king said in 5:6 and 7:2. See the notes for those verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 1:13

1:13a

the wise men who knew the times: There is a textual problem with this verse, in particular with the word translated times by the Berean Standard Bible. The two possibilities are:

(1) The text has the Hebrew word ʿitîm “times.” This is the text followed by the majority of the translations. This means the phrase could refer to astrologers, but here it probably refers to men who were experts in legal matters. For example, the Good News Translation has:

his advisers, who would know what should be done

(2) The text has ḏaṯîm, the plural of the word the Berean Standard Bible translates “law” in 1:13b. For example, the New Revised Standard Version and New Jerusalem Bible have:

who knew the laws

It is recommended that you follow the first option like the Good News Translation.

1:13b

law and justice: The Hebrew words daṯ and dîn, translated law and justice in the Berean Standard Bible, go together. The second one probably refers to legal procedures.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 3:3

3:3a

royal servants: See note on “officials” at 1:3a.

at the king’s gate: See note on 2:19b.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 5:8

5:8a

if it pleases the king: See note on 1:19a.

5:8b

banquet: See note on 1:9.

Step into the multitudes of languages of the Bible and join the worldwide conversation!

Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 2000