Disdained: the Hebrew verb expresses strong negative connotations, “to scorn, despise.” New Jerusalem Bible translates “he thought it beneath him merely to get rid of Mordecai.”

On to lay hands on someone, see 2.21.

They had made known: they here refers to the same persons who were identified as the king’s servants in verse 3 and who told Haman about Mordecai in verse 4. Revised Standard Version translates the Hebrew verb as a pluperfect, had made known, because it is obvious that Haman’s decision to destroy the Jews was taken after learning Mordecai’s identity. Although most languages can express previous action, some translators may wish to restructure the verse to show clearly the order of events, as Today’s English Version has done.

In the second half of this verse, some interpreters change one vowel so that the people of Mordecai becomes “with Mordecai.” The translation will then be “Haman sought to destroy all the Jews with Mordecai,” but such a change really does not alter the meaning of the entire verse, nor is it necessary.

The Hebrew says the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. This kingdom was “the whole Persian Empire” (Today’s English Version).

Septuagint 3.6

This verse, which is the end of the sentence that began in verse 5, is considerably shorter in the Greek than in the Hebrew. In moving rapidly to state Haman’s plans, the author leaves implicit the information that Haman had learned that Mordecai was a Jew.

The language in this verse is very forceful. Plotted here is not “seeking” as in 2.21 above, but rather “resolved with himself, determined, decided.” To destroy is literally “to remove from sight, to obliterate,” and therefore “to destroy utterly.” Some languages will have a verb that means specifically “to kill everyone, to totally liquidate.”

All the Jews under Artaxerxes’ rule is a literal translation of the Greek. This should not be understood to imply that some Jews in the empire were not under the king’s rule. The sense is clearly expressed in Revised English Bible: “all the Jews throughout the kingdom.” Today’s English Version is even more explicit: “in the whole Persian Empire.”

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 .