And he had a foster child, the daughter of his father’s brother, Aminadab, and her name was Esther. When her parents died, he brought her up as a wife for himself. The young woman was beautiful in appearance.
The name 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, Ge’ez, 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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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.”
He had brought up: Since five other names come between Mordecai in verse 5 and the pronoun He at the beginning of this verse, the name Mordecai may be specified, as in New Revised Standard Version (“Mordecai had brought up Hadassah”), to avoid ambiguity in the receptor language. The sense of the participle “supporting,” translated as brought up in Revised Standard Version and Today’s English Version, is explained at the end of this verse; Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
Hadassah was Esther’s Hebrew name and Esther was her non-Hebraic name. Today’s English Version makes this explicit by saying “whose Hebrew name was Hadassah.” This name is the feminine form of the Hebrew word for “myrtle,” a kind of evergreen tree or shrub that produces scented berries and yields fragrant oil. If translators have a name for “myrtle” in their language, they may want to consider following the example of Traduction œcuménique de la Bible: “Now he was the guardian of Myrtle—that is, Esther—his cousin….” Otherwise it is preferable to keep Hadassah in the text and provide an explanatory footnote.
Esther is a name of uncertain origin. If it is of Babylonian origin, it is a variant of the name Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love. But if it is of Persian origin, then it comes from the word for “star.” This information may also be included in a footnote.
Though the Hebrew says that Esther was the daughter of his uncle, the text does not say whether the uncle was the brother of Mordecai’s mother or of his father, a distinction made in some languages. Today’s English Version uses a more natural English way of referring to the relationship between Esther and Mordecai: “He had a cousin” (so also Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Nueva Biblia Española). If it is necessary to specify to which side of the family the uncle belonged, it may be preferable to say the father’s side, because in many societies the mother’s brother holds a special social and religious position that is not evident here.
For she had neither father nor mother: literally “for not to her father or mother.” The second half of this verse makes clear why she had no parents; they had died. A rather literal translation of the Hebrew order as in Revised Standard Version may wrongly suggest to some readers that Mordecai brought Esther up, and then at a later time her parents died. Today’s English Version completely restructures the verse and avoids this repetition of thought.
Beautiful and lovely: similarly to Rachel (Gen 29.17), Esther is described with two expressions, the first indicating that she was physically attractive (literally “lovely of form”), the second referring more to her general appearance (literally “good of vision”). Only the latter was used to describe Queen Vashti (1.11) and the young women who were to be gathered for the king (2.3). The Hebrew expressions are nearly synonymous. New International Version says “lovely in form and features.” Perhaps the intended meaning is best expressed as “she had a good figure and a beautiful face” (New Jerusalem Bible).
Adopted her as his own daughter is literally “took her to himself for a daughter.” Although this does not mean legal adoption, many translations use the word adopted. Others say simply “Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter” (New American Bible, New International Version). It may also be said “he had raised her as his very own child.”
Septuagint 2.7
This verse is considerably different in Greek than in Hebrew. Esther is said to be the daughter of Aminadab, the brother of Mordecai’s father. There is no indication in the text which of the two brothers is the elder. Rather than taking Esther as his daughter, Mordecai may have intended to make her his wife. The Greek also lacks Esther’s Hebrew name.
Foster child: this is a child that one cares for and raises but who is not formally adopted. This relationship is restated in some versions to focus on Mordecai as the guardian of Esther (so Today’s English Version and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). In translation it should be make clear that Mordecai raised Esther and not that he adopted her to be his own daughter.
The major difficulty in translating this verse comes with the Greek preposition and noun that are translated in Revised Standard Version as to womanhood. The noun may mean either “woman” or “wife.” The preposition may indicate a temporal relationship, that is “until [she had become] a woman,” or “until she was grown” (Today’s English Version). Or the preposition may indicate purpose, that is, “intending [to make her his] wife.” The more natural reading of the Greek, however, favors the interpretation found in Revised English Bible: “intending to make her his wife” (so also Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). This is the interpretation that should be followed. It should be expressed in the normal idiom designating marriage; for example, “to marry her” or “to take her as his wife.”
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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