furious

In Gbaya, the notion of being furious is emphasized in Greek Esther 1:29 with kús, an ideophone that expresses irritation or an immediate reaction.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

eunuch

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “eunuch” in English is translated in Low German as “man (or: person) who does not have male strength” (Minsch, de ehr Mannskraft nicht hebt) (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006). Similarly, in the German Luther Bible it is translated as Entmannter or “de-masculated.” (Source: Jost Zetzsche)

In Bislama it is “a person who has been castrated.” (Source: Bill Camden in The Bible Translator 1995, p. 240ff. )

When the mentioning of “eunuch” does not play an important part of the story, such as in Esther 2:3 or Esther 1:15, the Elhomwe translation uses “servant or “someone working at the palace” “because otherwise element of being castrated too much emphasis.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Translation commentary on Greek Esther 1:29

[Esther 1:12]

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 Today’s English Version, 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 (Today’s English Version, 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.”

Septuagint 1.12

The Septuagint says literally that the queen “did not listen to him to come with the eunuchs.” As in the Hebrew, the king’s reaction is expressed in two clauses. However, there is the difference that, whereas in the Hebrew they are virtually synonymous, in the Greek the first expresses the effect of the queen’s rejection on him, and the second states his emotional response.

Offended: the Greek verb means “to become sad” or “to become distressed.” Today’s English Version says that the king was “embarrassed,” but such a rendering is doubtful. More accurate are terms such as “irritated” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), “insulted” (see New Revised Standard Version), “vexed” (Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente), or “upset.”

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 .