SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 2000 – Page 5

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 9:18

9:18b

they rested: See note on 9:17b.

9:18c

making it a day of feasting and joy: This is a repeat of 9:17c.

© 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.
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SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 1:19

1:19a-b

So if it pleases the king: This phrase is used often in Esther when someone suggests something to the king. It is a polite way to say “if you agree.”

a royal decree: This means a command or order issued by the king.

1:19c

Vashti shall never again enter the presence of King Xerxes: This implied that the king should never again permit Vashti to approach him either as queen or as wife.

1:19d

her royal position: That is, her position as queen.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 3:9

3:9a

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

decree: See note on 1:19a.

3:9b

ten thousand talents of silver: This was an enormous amount of money. A talent weighed 75 pounds (34 kilograms). So the total amount was 750,000 pounds of silver (340,000 kilograms). This equals 335 British tons, 375 American tons and 340 metric tonnes. You should choose whichever measure is normally used in your area. However the most important thing to communicate is that Haman was promising a huge amount of money. If you use footnotes in your translation, you could put this information there. The text does not explain where Haman expected to get all this money. He may have been very wealthy already, or he may have expected to get the wealth of the Jews who would be killed.

the royal treasury: This refers to the place where all the king’s wealth was stored.

those who carry it out: Literally “the doers of the work.” This may refer to:

(1) the officials who ran the government of the empire, as the same expression clearly does in 9:3. Here it would refer especially to those who looked after the king’s financial matters. The order of the Hebrew and the reference to the “royal treasury” also suggest that this is the best interpretation.

(Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New Century Version, Contemporary English Version, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, God’s Word, Revised English Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Jerusalem Bible)

(2) the men who would carry out the order to destroy all the Jews.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version)

It is recommended that you follow option 1. The Display follows the New Century Version.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 5:14

5:14b

a gallows…Mordecai hanged on it: See note on 2:23b. The pole, or some kind of structure made of wood, was to be very tall (75 feet or 25 meters) so that everybody would see Mordecai’s dead body.

5:14c

banquet: See note on 1:9.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 8:11

8:11a

letters: See note on 1:22a.

8:11b

destroy, kill, and annihilate: See notes on 3:13b and 7:4a.

including women and children: The commentaries disagree about which women and children are being referred to. There are two possibilities:

(1) It refers to the women and children of their attackers (Berean Standard Bible, New Century Version, Contemporary English Version, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, Revised English Bible, God’s Word, Revised Standard Version).

(2) It refers to the Jewish women and children (New International Version, Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004)).

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), since it is supported by most of the commentaries and is a more natural way to understand the Hebrew.

8:11c

plunder their possessions: See note on 3:13c.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 9:30

9:30

And Mordecai sent: The Hebrew is more literally “and he sent.” From the context, it means Mordecai, so this is how the Berean Standard Bible has translated it (also New Century Version, God’s Word). However other versions understand the verb to be a passive (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, New Living Translation (2004), Revised English Bible).. If you have a passive in your language, it is recommended that you use it here:

letters were sent

peace: The Hebrew word here, šalom, is often translated “peace,” but it is a word that has many different meanings. Here the literal expression “words of peace” probably means “kind words” or “friendly words.”

truth: Here the literal expression “words of truth” probably means “sincere words.”

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 2:9

2:9b

beauty treatments: See note on 2:3d.

2:9c-d

harem: See note on 2:3b.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 4:7

4:7b

the royal treasury: See note on 3:9b.

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Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 2000