SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 2:14

2:14a

a second harem: See note on 2:3b. Apparently, the harem was divided into two parts. The first part was for the girls who were waiting to go to the king; the second part was for those who had spent the night with him and so had become his concubines.

© 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 4:14

4:14a

from another place: There are two different possibilites to interpret where the other place where help will come from:

(1) The help will come from someone else. For example, the New Century Version has:

someone else will come to help and save the Jewish people

(Berean Standard Bible, New Century Version, New International Version, New Living Translation (2004), English Standard Version)

(2)help will come from heaven

It is recommended that you follow the first option, there is nothing in the text to suggest Mordecai was referring to God.

4:14b

you and your father’s house: The Contemporary English Version includes Mordecai with those who would be saved in 4:14a (“we will somehow get help”). But Mordecai was part of Esther’s father’s family, so he was surely including himself in those who would die if Esther didn’t speak to the king.

4:14c

you have come to the kingdom: That is, “you have become queen.”

for such a time as this: That is, that Esther had been made queen at this particular time in order to be able to prevent the killing of the Jews.

© 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 7:5

Paragraph 7:5–7

© 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 9:13

9:13a

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

edict: See note on 1:20a.

9:13b

be hanged on the gallows: See note on 2:23b. Here however it was not a method of execution, since Haman’s sons were already dead (see 9:7–10). It was their corpses that Esther wanted displayed on the gallows, as a warning to other people.

© 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 1:14

1:14b

princes: See note on 1:3b.

who had personal access to the king: Literally “who saw the king’s face.” This means that they were allowed to enter the king’s presence freely and talk with him because he trusted them.

© 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 3:4

3:4

There are several different ways to rearrange this verse and connect the various phrases. The Display follows Good News Translation. Both Contemporary English Version and New Century Version have other models you could follow.

since he had told them he was a Jew: See note on 3:2c.

© 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 5:9

Section 5:9–14

Haman planned to kill Mordecai

Haman was delighted that Esther had invited him to eat with the king again, since it was a great honor. But on his way home, he became angry when Mordecai once more refused to show him the respect he thought he was owed, and, taking his friends’ advice, he decided to kill him.

Paragraph 5:9–14

5:9a

full of joy and glad of heart: This means extremely pleased. Try to find an idiom or vivid expression in your language to express this meaning.

5:9b

the king’s gate: See note at 2:19b. Again, here this refers literally to the entrance to the king’s palace.

5:9c

did not rise or tremble in fear: In 3:2, Mordecai had refused to bow down to Haman. Here he refuses to show respect by standing up or to appear to be afraid. The word translated “fear” can also mean “respect.”

© 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 8:6

8:6a

For: This gives the reason why Esther was making her request to the king in these verses.

how could I bear to see the disaster that would befall my people?: This is a rhetorical question. Decide whether in your language it is better to use the question or statement form. The question in 8:6b is also rhetorical.

Paragraph 8:7–8

© 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.