sackcloth

The Hebrew or Greek which are translated into English as “sackcloth” are rendered into Chamula Tzotzil as “sad-heart clothes.” (Source: Robert Bascom)

Pohnpeian and Chuukese translate it as “clothing-of sadness,” Eastern Highland Otomi uses “clothing that hurts,” Central Mazahua “that which is scratchy,” Tae’ and Zarma “rags” (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel), and Tangale as “torn clothes that show contrition on the body” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin). In the English translation by Goldingay (2018), “put on sackcloth” is translated as wrap on sack.

“In Turkana, a woman removes her normal everyday skin clothes and ornaments and wears rather poor skins during the time of mourning. The whole custom is known as ngiboro. It is very difficult to translate putting on sackcloth because even material like sacking is unfamiliar. The Haya, on the other hand, have a mourning cloth made out of the bark of a tree; and the use of this cloth is similar to the Jewish use of sackcloth. It was found that in both the Turkana and Ruhaya common language translations, their traditional mourning ceremonies were used.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 221ff. )

Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing what a sackcloth looked like in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also mourning clothes and you have loosed my sackcloth.

Translation commentary on Greek Esther 4:2

He went up to means that he went as far as the gate. FOX says “he came up to the King’s Gate but no farther.” The Hebrew is literally “until the face of the gate,” meaning he stopped in front of the gate. Mordecai stopped at the palace entrance, because no one dressed in sackcloth was allowed to enter the palace. Wearing sackcloth within the palace was prohibited, not merely because of the crude appearance of sackcloth, but because it symbolized mourning and death.

While some translations like Revised Standard Version and New International Version use the verb he went, others like Today’s English Version and FOX say “he came.” The difference in the two verbs is in the perspective of the author, who sees Mordecai going toward the palace, and therefore away from the one telling the story, or who sees Mordecai coming toward the palace and therefore toward the one telling the story. This difference is not specified in the Hebrew verb, but it is made explicit in the English went and “came.” Translators will need to choose a word in their language that is consistent with the way the story is being told.

Septuagint 4.2

As in the Hebrew above, the Greek verb is ambiguous regarding the author’s perspective. Today’s English Version says “he came” as it did above, but New Revised Standard Version adopts a more neutral English expression. However, in its second sentence Today’s English Version shifts the perspective by saying “he did not go in,” implying that the author and the reader are observing from outside the palace. Translators will need to be consistent in how they describe Mordecai’s movement so that the reader is not confused.

The Greek states explicitly that Mordecai stopped in front of the entrance to the palace. The Greek also includes the word ashes in this verse as in verse 1. Although the text says “he was not allowed to enter the courtyard wearing sackcloth and ashes” (compare Bible en français courant, “he didn’t have the right to enter”), both New Revised Standard Version and Today’s English Version interpret this as a general rule applying to everyone, as is made clear in the Hebrew version. It is better here to follow the Greek text and not harmonize it with the Hebrew as New Revised Standard Version and Today’s English Version have done.

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 .