The Hebrew word translated as villages in Revised Standard Version is actually a noun that refers to people who live in open settlements, that is, “villagers.” The very same Hebrew word is used with “towns” to mean open towns that have no protective walls around them: (Anchor Bible “Jewish villagers who are living in unwalled towns”; FOX “village Jews, living in unwalled towns”). A translation such as open towns (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, Gordis) will have no meaning in many languages. Though the words “small towns” correctly preserve one aspect of the meaning, they fail to preserve the cultural fact that larger towns were often surrounded by walls for protection, while smaller isolated villages were not. Revised English Bible correctly focuses on the aspect of being remote and isolated: “Jews in the countryside who live in remote villages” (similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Biblia Dios Habla Hoy preserves both the meaning that these were “small towns” and that they were unwalled: “the Jews who live in towns and villages that don’t have walls.” Another model may be “Jews who live in the rural areas in remote unprotected villages.”

A day for gladness and feasting and holiday-making: in this verse the special day is described as it had been previously (see 8.16, 17 above), although the descriptive features are reversed in order. However, the author does not merely repeat. He emphasizes the special nature of the day by providing an additional detail. It is also a “good day,” frequently translated as a “holiday,” a day when special gifts are given to one another.

The sending of choice portions to one another during festivals was a customary practice (see 1 Sam 1.4; Neh 8.10). The choice portions were portions of food. The same Hebrew word for choice portions is translated as “portion of food” in 2.9. In this context it may be best to follow Today’s English Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and New American Bible, which say “gifts of food.” The word “presents” as in New Jerusalem Bible and New International Version is too general and suggests gifts other than food.

One another: the Hebrew is literally “one’s fellow, one’s companion, one’s neighbor.” It may be translated “to one another, to each other,” or by a verb form that expresses reciprocal action.

Septuagint 9.19

The focus in this and the preceding verses is the “keeping” of certain days. Here they “make [or, observe] the fourteenth day of Adar [as a] good day with joy.” As in the Hebrew, a “good day” is a holiday (see above).

The Greek has a long addition: while those who live in the large cities keep the fifteenth day of Adar as their joyful holiday, also sending presents to one another. Their day is literally a “good joyful day.”

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 .