So on the thirteenth day of the first month the king’s secretaries were summoned, and in accordance with Haman’s instructions they wrote in the name of King Artaxerxes to the magistrates and the governors in every province from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces in all, and to the governors of the nations, each in his own language.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Greek that is translated in English typically as “obedience” or “obey” is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “thing hearing,” because “to hear is to obey.” (Source: Marjorie Davis in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 34ff. )
In Huba it is translated as hya nǝu nyacha: “follow (his) mouth.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post )
In Central Mazahua it is translated as “listen-obey” and in Huehuetla Tepehua as “believe-obey” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in Noongar as dwangka-don, lit. “hear do” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).
The name that is transliterated as “Haman” in English means “alone,” “solitary,” “well disposed,” “a rioter,” “rager.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
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.”
Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”
This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.
The king’s secretaries were summoned: though the verb “to call” is passive, it is possible that Haman is the implicit agent. Today’s English Version makes this explicit: “Haman called the king’s secretaries.” The secretaries were probably scribes who were responsible for writing official correspondence. Here they wrote under Haman’s authority or according to his instructions. For secretaries it may be necessary to say “writers” or “writers of letters.”
On the first month see 3.7.
Edict: this is the first of three official edicts recorded in the book (see also 8.9; 9.14), but the text says simply that “it was written all as Haman commanded [or, ordered].” In verse 14 below, what was written will be specifically identified as a dat “law, edict” (see also 9.14).
The satraps, governors, and princes of all the peoples are mentioned in order of rank (see 1.1). The satraps were responsible for the large administrative units called “satrapies,” the governors ruled over the provinces, and the princes were ethnarchs or tribal chieftains.
In its own script … in its own language: see comments on 1.22. Script is the “symbols [marks]” used in writing or the “way” of writing of each people.
On the expression in the name of, see comments on 2.22.
On sealed with the king’s ring, see the comments on verse 10 above.
Septuagint 3.12
The Greek contains several small differences from the Hebrew. Although the Greek says only that they wrote “through Artaxerxes the king,” the meaning is that they wrote in his name or by his authority. The Greek does not state that the decree was sealed with the king’s ring, but it does contain the information from India to Ethiopia and There were one hundred twenty-seven provinces in all (see 1.1).
Though the Greek does not state that the decree was “translated” into the languages spoken in the provinces, this implicit information may need to be supplied in some languages (see Today’s English Version, and see reference to Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente in 1.22).
The word magistrates is translated as “rulers” in Today’s English Version, but the specific sense of the Greek word is better captured by the translations “army commanders” (Revised English Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) or “generals” (Bible en français courant and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).
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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