When the queen’s maids and eunuchs came and told her, she was deeply troubled by what she heard had happened and sent instructions to clothe Mordecai and to remove his sackcloth, but he would not consent.
The Hebrew, Ge’ez, Latin, 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 Translator1985, 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)
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “eunuch” in English is translated in Low German as “man (or: person) who does not have male strength” (Minsch, de ehr Mannskraft nicht hebt) (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006). Similarly, in the German Luther Bible it is translated as Entmannter or “de-masculated.” (Source: Jost Zetzsche)
When the mentioning of “eunuch” does not play an important part of the story, such as in Esther 2:3 or Esther 1:15, the Elhomwe translation uses “servant or “someone working at the palace” “because otherwise element of being castrated too much emphasis.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The name that is transliterated as “Mordecai” in English means “little man,” “bitter bruising,” “bitterly reduced,” “bitterness of my oppression.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
It is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign depicting the tearing of clothes, referring to Esther 4:1. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
This verse is marked by a paragraph break in both Revised Standard Version and Today’s English Version. It introduces the series of reports and messages that go back and forth between Mordecai and Esther in this chapter. No indication is given as to the length of time that has passed between verses 1-3 and verse 4. It may be later the same day or it may be several days later. In any case the translator must be careful to link the story line in this verse with Mordecai’s actions in 4.1-2 above, so that Esther’s reaction is to what Mordecai has done, not to what the Jews are doing in verse 3.
Esther’s maids were mentioned earlier in 2.9, when Hegai provided her with seven chosen maids from the palace.
Her eunuchs: on eunuchs see 1.10. After her marriage to King Ahasuerus, the king gave Esther some of his eunuchs to serve her (see 4.5).
The queen was deeply distressed: the Hebrew text, which is reflected by Revised Standard Version, emphasizes that it was the queen who was troubled. The author thus subtly reminds the reader that Esther holds an official position in the kingdom. Esther’s emotions on hearing the news about Mordecai’s actions may be described idiomatically to make it clear that she was “deeply disturbed” (Today’s English Version) or “deeply agitated” (New Jerusalem Bible). Some languages will say “her heart was very troubled”; others may say “her liver was very heavy.”
Septuagint 4.4
The note in New Revised Standard Version mentions the translation “When her” from manuscript evidence, using the pronoun instead of the noun “queen.” However, most translations follow the Septuagint text as given in both the Rahlfs and the Göttingen editions. This reads “and entered the maids and the eunuchs of the queen.” Her name is not included here as it is in the Hebrew. The Greek says literally that the maids and eunuchs “entered” (“came in” Revised English Bible), referring to their entrance into the palace or into her living quarters.
She was deeply troubled: as stated above, this refers to Esther’s emotions, but the Greek repeats the theme of confusion. The same word occurs here to describe Esther’s emotional state as was earlier used to describe the city of Susa when it heard the edict about the destruction of the Jews that was to occur (see comments on 3.15 and on Addition A.4).
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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