[Esther 1:11]

To bring: although the king ordered his servants to bring the queen, she was able to refuse to come. Therefore the translator must not use a verb bring that implies force; the servants were not sent to carry her to him. They were sent to “fetch” her, or to “lead her,” or to “escort” her.

With her royal crown: as Today’s English Version and New Revised Standard Version make clear, Vashti was to come “wearing” her crown. This royal crown, or “diadem” (New Jerusalem Bible; see Septuagint below), was probably made of blue and white cloth wrapped around the head in the shape of a modern turban, with jewels inset. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente correctly says “queenly turban.” Since only the crown is mentioned, ancient Jewish interpreters believed that Vashti was not to wear any clothes except the crown, but the meaning is that she was to appear wearing her royal clothing, including the crown. Translators need to make sure that the translation does not imply that Vashti was to appear naked, wearing only her crown. Some languages have expressions such as “bring [her] including her royal crown.”

Where no word for crown exists, a noun compound may be formed or a descriptive phrase may be used to describe a symbol of royalty worn on the head. The king wanted to exhibit the beauty of the queen to the people at the banquet. He wanted to let them see her, he wanted to show her off because, as the writer explains, she was fair to behold. An equivalent expression may be found that expresses great beauty without being vulgar or improper, such as “she captured everybody’s eyes” or “she stood very womanly.”

The peoples and the princes: regarding peoples see comments on 1.5, and for princes see comments on 1.3. The word rendered princes is rendered “governors” in verse 3b.

Septuagint 1.11

Unlike the Hebrew, the Greek states that the king called for Vashti (“Astin” in Greek) to proclaim her as queen. The meaning is not simply that the king was going to say that she was the queen; he was going to crown her as queen. He also wanted to display her beauty. The Greek uses two pairs of phrases to express the king’s intention. He wanted first “to make her queen and to place on her the diadem,” then he wanted “to show her to the governors and to the nations her beauty.” There is ellipsis in the latter clause (“and to the nations her beauty”) in that the verb “to show” is not included with the object, her beauty.

To place the diadem on her head: the text says only “to place on her the diadem,” but both New Revised Standard Version and Today’s English Version make explicit that it was to be placed on her head. The Greek uses the term “diadem” here in place of the word more commonly used for “crown.” The diadem was a sign of royalty among the Persians. It consisted of a blue cloth headband trimmed with white. The word “crown” is a more general term, while diadem is a specific kind of crown.

Governors are those mentioned in Septuagint verse 3, while people of various nations are those mentioned in Septuagint verse 5. The Septuagint is literally, “the princes [or, governors] and the nations.” Instead of the people of various nations Traduction œcuménique de la Bible says “the nations,” but the sense is that he showed her off to the people of the nations. The word “guests” (Today’s English Version) does not keep the idea that these were people of other ethnic groups. Compare Bible en français courant: “and to his guests from all the nations.”

The verse concludes with great emphasis in its very simplicity. The Greek says only “for beautiful she was.” New Revised Standard Version uses the adverb indeed to convey the emphasis of the original text.

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 .