In the days of Ahasuerus is literally “And it was in the days of Ahasuerus” (see King James Version). The Hebrew word wayyehi is a common opening expression that may serve as a link with a preceding book or with previous events. This same Hebrew word begins the historical books of Joshua, Judges, 1,2 Samuel, and the prophetic books of Ezekiel and Jonah. Translators may want to use a standard expression in the receptor language that is appropriate for introducing a story such as this, as the American Translation (An American Translation) has in English: “Now in the days of Xerxes….” The New Jerusalem Bible reads “It happened in the days of Ahasuerus…,” or they may want to use a sentence such as “The events here related happened in the days of Ahasuerus” (Revised English Bible; similarly Bible en français courant). Just as the book of Esther begins in a way that is typical of biblical histories, it also ends with a statement of the historical reliability of the story (see 10.2).

Ahasuerus is widely recognized today to be Xerxes I (485-464 B.C.), the son of Darius the Great, though some historians, along with the Septuagint and the first-century A.D. Jewish historian Josephus, consider Ahasuerus to be Artaxerxes (464-423 B.C.). Other modern historians identify Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes II (404-358 B.C.).

The Hebrew text refers to the king as Ahasuerus, from the Persian form of his name, and many translations transliterate this Hebrew form of the name (King James Version, Revised Standard Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). Others use the better-known Greek form of his name, Xerxes (Good News Translation, New International Version, Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). The translator may be advised to choose the name that is already known and accepted in local church circles. If there is no strong preference on the basis of church tradition, the translator should select the form that is consistent with principles established for the overall translation project.

Apparently the writer of Esther knew of more than one king named Ahasuerus, so after mentioning the king by name, he specifies which one was meant, by adding the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia. Some common language versions such as Good News Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have a stylistically smoother translation than the formal equivalence translation in Revised Standard Version, because they do not repeat the king’s name. However, the resulting translation both omits telling which king is meant and removes the focus on time expressed by in those days. An American Translation brings out these features of the text by adding the words “that is”: “Now in the days of Xerxes—that is, the Xerxes who reigned from India even to Ethiopia…,” and New Revised Standard Version adds the word “same”: “the same Ahasuerus who ruled over one hundred twenty-seven provinces.”

In verse 2 he is referred to literally as “the king Ahasuerus.” This is his title, which is stated in English as King Ahasuerus. Throughout the book of Esther he is referred to in this way (see comments on Vashti in verse 9). In translation it will be necessary to find an equivalent formal title.

Reigned from India to Ethiopia: he was king or ruler over a territory that included the land from western India to Upper Egypt. These were the eastern and western limits of the empire. Though nearly all translations say Ethiopia, this may be misleading because the modern state of Ethiopia does not correspond to the territory known as “Cush” in Hebrew. The biblical term included both Upper Egypt, that is, the southern part of modern Egypt, and part of modern Sudan. Therefore to call it “Sudan,” as the first edition of Good News Translation did, is not entirely accurate either.

Another solution may be to retain the biblical names, both Cush and India, and use a footnote to indicate that the northeastern corner of Africa is meant by the former, while the latter corresponds roughly to the area of India today. To avoid the footnote and the unknown word “Cush,” this phrase may also be translated “from India to regions of Africa beyond Egypt.”

Ahasuerus ruled over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Darius, the father of Ahasuerus, had organized his empire into twenty administrative units called satrapies. Rulers of the satrapies were called satraps and are mentioned in Esther 3.12; 8.9; 9.3 (see also Ezra 8.36). Provinces were smaller administrative units or subdivisions of the satrapies. In the Persian period Palestine was included in the satrapy called “Beyond the River” in Revised Standard Version and “West-of-Euphrates Province” in Good News Translation (see Ezra 4.10; 8.36).

Most translations write out the number one hundred and twenty-seven fully in words, but some, like Good News Translation, use digits (“127”). Translators will need to decide which numbers to write out in words and which numbers to write in digits. Higher numbers are sometimes written with digits to avoid writing very long words or complicated compound constructions. Decisions should be based on principles that relate to making reading as easy as possible. In English, for example, the practice is sometimes followed of using digits if the number consists of more than two words.

Provinces may be translated as “divisions of land” or “parts of kingdom” if no equivalent exists in the receptor language. Occasionally a borrowed term may be used on the basis of present-day political administration, but care must be taken not to imply that the structure of Persian government administration was the same as that of a modern state.

In those days: many rather literal translations such as Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente reflect the repetitive nature of the Hebrew text. The repetition serves to underline that the story which follows happened in those days. In translation the first verse may be restructured to introduce the time and setting of the story. A phrase referring to that time may then serve as a discourse element linking and introducing verse two, in which the king can be presented.

Sat on his royal throne: though the Hebrew says that the king “sat on the throne of his kingdom,” the meaning is that he was in residence at Susa, that is, he was living there (see comments on 5.1). He “occupied the royal throne” (New Jerusalem Bible); “was occupying” (New American Bible [New American Bible]) or “was settled on the royal throne” (Revised English Bible). Nueva Biblia Española says that he “was residing in the acropolis of Susa.”

When Xerxes succeeded his father Darius as king in 485, Egypt was in rebellion against the Persians. Shortly thereafter Babylon also rebelled against Persia. \La Bible du Semeur translates this verse in light of these events (“when the emperor Xerxes came to take his place on his royal throne”), and a corresponding note states that this statement refers to “his first coming to the citadel of Susa, after having put down rebellions in his empire caused by his ascension to the throne.” (See the Septuagint, which uses the verb “enthroned.”) Such a translation of the Hebrew text, however, is more specific than the information in the text itself permits.

In Susa the capital: Susa was the winter residence of the Persian kings, 320 kilometers (200 miles) northeast of Babylon. The Hebrew name is shushan. It was one of four Persian capitals. Since the identity of Susa is unknown to many modern readers, Good News Translation has made explicit that Susa was “Persia’s capital city.”

Neither the capital (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation), nor “palace” (King James Version) is entirely accurate as a translation of the Hebrew. The capital will suggest a city itself to many readers, but since a distinction is made between the “palace” and the city that was also called Susa (3.15; 4.1, 6; 8.15), translators should not use a word or expression that will mean a city. “The palace” is also too limited as a translation, since another Hebrew expression (“house of the king”) is used to refer to the palace (see 2.8, 13).

Susa was an acropolis (Nueva Biblia Española), that is, a fortress. It covered about 120 hectares (300 acres) and overlooked the city of Susa, which was located to the east of the acropolis. The palace, covering about five hectares, was located within the acropolis. New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible say “in the citadel of Susa”; New Jerusalem Bible has “in the fortress Shushan,” with a note explaining that this was the “fortified city.” Other translations have “in the stronghold of Susa” (New American Bible).