Then the king gave a drinking party lasting seven days for all his Friends and the officers to celebrate his marriage to Esther, and he granted a remission of taxes to those who were under his rule.
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Esther” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign depicting a star on a crown, referring to her being a queen and her name likely meaning “star” (see here ). (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
It was Esther’s banquet: literally the Hebrew says “Esther’s banquet,” and the words are not connected grammatically with the rest of the verse. The meaning appears to be that the king “gave a banquet in Esther’s honor” (so Today’s English Version, Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), not that Esther gave the banquet. Different languages will express in their own ways the idea of giving a feast in honor of someone; for example, “he did a great feast because of [or, for] her.”
He also granted a remission of taxes: the word translated as “a remission of taxes” in Revised Standard Version occurs only here in the Old Testament, and the meaning is disputed by scholars. It probably is related to an Aramaic word meaning “a causing to rest.” Though most interpreters understand the word to mean “a holiday,” that is, a rest from work (so Today’s English Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised English Bible), other possible meanings are “tax relief” (Revised Standard Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), “exemption from military service” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible margin), “amnesty” (New Jerusalem Bible and New Revised Standard Version margins), “emancipation of slaves” (New International Version margin), and “truce” (Segond). Since interpreters most often understand the meaning to be either “rest from work” or “rest from paying taxes,” translators are encouraged to choose either of these two possible meanings.
Gifts: since this same word is used in Amos 5.11 with reference to wheat or grain, in this passage it may refer to gifts of wheat. Most translations, however, take the word in the more general sense of “gifts.”
With royal liberality: the same Hebrew expression occurs in 1.7, “according to the bounty of the king.” Some translations understand this to mean that the king acted with generosity (Revised Standard Version, Bible en français courant), but it may simply mean “in royal fashion” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). The sentence may then be restated to read “He gave things as kings do” or “in the manner of kings.”
Septuagint 2.18
This verse is considerably different in the Septuagint from the Hebrew. The banquet, which is called a “drinking party” (see comment on LXX 1.5), is said to have lasted for a week and is explicitly said to be a celebration of the king’s marriage to Esther. The Greek does not say that the king gave gifts. One possible way of translating this is to say “the king did [or, made] a feast … over the taking of Esther to be his wife.”
As in the Hebrew, the meaning of the Greek word “release” is ambiguous. Most translations understand the sense to be “release from taxes” (New Revised Standard Version, Today’s English Version, Revised English Bible).
On the words his Friends see comments on the Greek text of 1.3.
Officers is literally “powers, authorities,” or as Bible en français courant translates, “highly placed personages.”
Those who were under his rule: these words emphasize the power and authority of the king more than the Hebrew text does. Some translations, however, translate these words more in agreement with the wording of the Hebrew as “the whole empire” (Today’s English Version) or “the whole population of his kingdom” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). It is better, though, to maintain the focus of the Greek, as in Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, “all the subjects,” and Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, “the subjects of his empire [kingdom].”
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 .
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