וַתְּמָאֵ֞ן הַמַּלְכָּ֣ה וַשְׁתִּ֗י לָבוֹא֙ בִּדְבַ֣ר הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּיַ֣ד הַסָּרִיסִ֑ים וַיִּקְצֹ֤ף הַמֶּ֨לֶךְ֙ מְאֹ֔ד וַחֲמָת֖וֹ בָּעֲרָ֥ה בֽוֹ׃
12But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command conveyed by the eunuchs. At this the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him.
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)
In Bislama it is “a person who has been castrated.” (Source: Bill Camden in The Bible Translator 1995, p. 240ff.)
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Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )
See also king (Japanese honorifics).
The author informs the reader that Queen Vashti refused to come at the davar “word” of the king “that was by the hand of the eunuchs.” This is the second term used in the book to refer to a command or an order. What form the “word” took or how it was conveyed is not clear, unless “by the hand of” may be taken to imply the delivery of a written message. In the Hebrew text there is ellipsis, that is, there is no verb to indicate how the message was conveyed. The translator may prefer to follow Revised Standard Version (also Bible en français courant) in using a verb that does not specify how it was transmitted (conveyed), rather than Good News Translation, which makes the command oral (“told”).
No motive is given for the queen’s refusal, but her refusal was necessary for the development of the story of how Esther saved her people.
At this is simply the Hebrew conjunction waw “and”; translators should use a normal transition term for continuing the narration from the queen’s refusal to the king’s anger.
The writer of Esther frequently uses repetition of words and phrases. Sometimes the repetition is in the form of words that are near synonyms. In other cases the repetition takes the form of phrases or sentences with nearly identical meaning. In this verse the king’s reaction to the queen’s refusal to obey his word is described twice: the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him. Though most translations keep this repetition (Revised Standard Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New International Version), some versions omit the second part as being redundant (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant). In keeping with the literary style of the book, the translator may wish to express the king’s anger first in normal prose fashion, “the king became very angry,” and then by a parallel idiomatic expression; for example, “his heart rose up,” “his heart burned,” or “his liver blackened.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .