in every city and province wherever the decree was published; wherever the proclamation was made, the Jews had joy and gladness, a banquet and a holiday. And many of the nations were circumcised and became Jews out of fear of the Jews.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).
Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).
In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
The Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “circumcise” or “circumcision” in English (originally meaning of English term: “to cut around”) are (back-) translated in various ways:
Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “put the mark in the body showing that they belong to God” (or: “that they have a covenant with God”)
Indonesian: disunat — “undergo sunat” (sunat is derived from Arabic “sunnah (سنة)” — “(religious) way (of life)”)
Ekari: “cut the end of the member for which one fears shame” (in Gen. 17:10) (but typically: “the cutting custom”) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Hiri Motu: “cut the skin” (source: Deibler / Taylor 1977, p. 1079)
Garifuna: “cut off part of that which covers where one urinates”
Bribri: “cut the soft” (source for this and the one above: Ronald Ross)
Amele: deweg cagu qoc — “cut the body” (source: John Roberts)
Eastern Highland Otomi: “cut the flesh of the sons like Moses taught” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
Newari: “put the sign in one’s body” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
The first sentence of this verse contains four pairs of near synonyms: province–city; command–edict; gladness–joy; feast–holiday. The author surely intended to use this stylistic pattern of repetition, but the translator will need to decide how it can be represented in the receptor language. Today’s English Version has restated to express the meaning of the words, while changing the form to have only two pairs of near synonyms.
A holiday is literally “a good day.” Here, as in later Hebrew, these words indicate a religious festival. Many languages will say “festival day,” although this must not be so culturally restricted as to make the reader or the listener associate this Jewish holiday with a specific holiday in one’s own culture.
The phrase many from the peoples of the country refers to “the peoples of the world” (Revised English Bible), “people of other nationalities” (New International Version). These were non-Jews who lived throughout the Persian Empire. Moffatt says “many pagans.” These people declared themselves Jews, that is, they “became Jews” (Today’s English Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible), for the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them. The fear of the Jews is not fear of what the Jews feared; rather these peoples of the world were afraid of the Jews. Some interpreters, however, understand the fear in this verse to be “religious awe.” That is, the people became Jews, not because they were afraid of the Jewish people, but because they had seen the power of the God of the Jews. Against this latter interpretation is the use of “fear” in 9.2 in the sense of “to be afraid of.”
The Hebrew masculine plural participle “the ones becoming Jews” is variously interpreted in the versions. The participle is in the hithpael form; and as Waltke and O’Connor state, “the Hithpael may denote esteeming or presenting oneself in a state, sometimes without regard to the question of truthfulness” (pages 430-431). Revised Standard Version leaves a certain ambiguity as to whether they merely declared themselves Jews or actually became Jews. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible expresses the same ambiguity in a footnote, stating that the Hebrew may mean either “pretending to become Jews” or “converting to Judaism.” New Jerusalem Bible says that they “professed to be Jews,” implying that it was in name only. Even stronger than New Jerusalem Bible is Gordis, “pretended to be Jews.” Many versions, however, understand that they “made themselves Jews” indeed (so LSR and Bible en français courant; compare New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible). This interpretation is supported by 9.27. The translator should follow this latter interpretation.
Septuagint 8.17
As in the Hebrew, four descriptions of the event as it relates to the Jews are given; they are literally “[there was] joy and celebration for the Jews, a drinking cup and celebration.” Note that the word “celebration” is repeated twice, although both New Revised Standard Version and Today’s English Version interpret it differently: Though the Greek word translated as banquet (New Revised Standard Version) may be translated as “feasting” (Revised English Bible), it more likely carries the specific sense of “drunkenness” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “they celebrated the event with festive drinking-bouts.” Translators should select a word or expression that indicates that the banquet involved much drinking of wine.
Gentiles is used here in both Revised Standard Version and Today’s English Version for “non-Jews.” These were the ethnē, “nations,” in the Greek. They were often contrasted with the laos, “people,” who were the Jews (see Addition A.6, 17). While the Hebrew says that people became Jews, the Septuagint adds that they were circumcised. For the Jews the rite of circumcision was a sign of the covenant relationship between God and his people (compare Addition C.26). Where circumcision is known, there is usually an acceptable way to speak about it. Where it is unknown, a paraphrase such as “cutting a part of one’s self” or “cutting one’s skin” may need to be used. A footnote or glossary entry will then be needed to explain that it is the foreskin of the male organ which is cut off, and to explain the significance of circumcision for the Jews in the Old Testament.
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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