The Hebrew that is translated as “couches” or similar in English is translated in Elhomwe with “couches for the party” for clarity’s sake. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
purple
The Greek that is translated as “purple” in English is translated as “blue-red” in Ojitlán Chinantec (source: M. Larson in Notes on Translation 1970, p. 1ff.) and in Elhomwe (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).
In Kasua was a little bit more involved, as Rachel Greco recalls (in The PNG Experience ):
“The Kasua people of Western Province have no word for the color purple. They have words for many other colors: black, red, white, yellow, green, and blue, but not for the color of royalty.
“About nine New Testament passages mention people placing a purple robe on Jesus. The Kasua translation team always wanted to use the word ‘red,’ or keyalo, to describe the robe. Tommy, one of the translation team helpers, disagreed because this is not historically accurate or signifies the royalty of Jesus.
“One of the main rules of translation is that the team must stick to the historical facts when they translate a passage. If they don’t, then how can the readers trust what they’re reading is true? Other questions about truth could bubble in the reader’s minds about the Scriptures. For this reason, Tommy was not willing to change the word purple. So the team hung up the problem, hoping to revisit it later with more inspiration.
“God did not disappoint.
“Years later, Tommy hiked with some of the men near their village. They saw a tree that possessed bulbous growths growing on the side of it like fruit. These growths were ‘the most beautiful color of purple I’d ever seen,’ explained Tommy.
“’What is the name of this tree?’ Tommy asked the men.
“’This is an Okani tree,’ they replied.
“Tommy suggested, ‘Why don’t you, in those passages where we’ve been struggling to translate the color purple, use ‘they put a robe on Jesus the color of the fruit of the Okani tree’?
“’Yeah. We know exactly what color that is,’ the men said enthusiastically.
“Everyone in their village would also visualize this phrase accurately, as the Okani tree is the only tree in that area that produces this kind of purple growth. So now, among the Kasua people, in his royal purple robe, Jesus is shown to be the king that he is.”
cotton
Cotton Gossypium herbaceum has been grown and woven in the Indus Valley (now Pakistan) for at least five thousand years. Pieces of cotton cloth that old have been found there. However, it was not grown in the land of Israel until a few centuries before Christ.
The story of Esther takes place in Babylon in the time of Ahasuerus (= Xerxes) 485–465 B.C. By that time both cotton and flax products were probably traded back and forth throughout the Babylonian Empire, and the cultivation of both was probably expanding, although the area of India, Pakistan, and Babylonia would have been the area of largest production. Herodotus, in the fifth century B.C., mentions “trees that bear wool” from India.
The writer of Esther describes fabric made from karpas, a Hebrew word that comes from Sanskrit, a language spoken long ago in India, where cotton was domesticated. That may be evidence that karpas probably refers to cotton alone, particularly since the Hebrew word buts is probably used for “linen” in the same verse.
Isaiah 19:9, an oracle about Egypt, refers to the “weavers of white cotton [choray],” parallel to “workers in combed flax.” This supports the contention that cotton was well established in Egypt in Old Testament times, at least by the time of the Israelite monarchy.
The original Indian and Arabian type of cotton (“Levant cotton”) grows to 2 meters (7 feet) in height, with soft, lobed leaves (like its relatives the hibiscus and the hollyhock). The mallow-like flowers are yellow with a purple center. When the flower matures, the boll underneath puffs out and eventually splits, revealing a mass of fine white filaments that we know as “cotton wool.”
Cotton is now grown extensively throughout the world, especially in warm, dry areas. The Tree Cotton Gossypium arboreum is native to North Africa and is now grown in Upper Egypt. Another species, Upland Cotton Gossypium barbadense, grows in the West Indies. Egypt, India, China, and Nigeria all raise cotton in great quantities since it is their most important textile. If a transliteration of cotton from a major language is needed, adaptations of the following are advised: French cotonnier; Portuguese algodão, algodeiro; Spanish algodonero; Arabic kutun; and English cotton.
Even if the translator’s people do not actually grow cotton, they know it from the cloth sellers and will have a name for it. Failing that, a transliteration from a major language is recommended.
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Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)
See also snow (color).
flax / linen
Flax Linum usitatissimum, from which linen cloth is made, was cultivated in the Middle East, including Canaan, at least as early as 5000 B.C. A document from Gezer (in Israel) from around King Saul’s time (1000 B.C.) refers to the cultivation of flax and states that flax and wool were the main materials for making cloth. According to Joshua 2:6, the Israelite spies were hidden under flax stalks by Rahab. Flax was grown extensively in Egypt and made into cloth and mats.
Pesheth and pishtah are probably the original Hebrew words for flax, if indeed the plant was domesticated in the Holy Land, as Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) proposes. They may be related to the word pashat, meaning “to strip off” or “to flay,” or to the word pasas, meaning “to disintegrate.” Pesheth and pishtah are used twenty times in the Old Testament, twice referring clearly to the plant itself (Exodus 9:31; Joshua 2:6). Other references are to the processed flax (Judges 15:14 et al.). A few cases refer to finished products, namely wicks (Isaiah 42:3 et al.), cords (Ezekiel 40:3), and items of clothing (Jeremiah 13:1 et al.).
It is likely that the Hebrews acquired the word shesh from the Egyptians during their sojourn in Egypt, since flax was cultivated there also. The Egyptian word for flax was shent (via shen-suten). Shesh is used thirty-eight times in the Old Testament: for the material that Pharaoh put on Joseph, for the Tabernacle curtains and hangings in Exodus, for the ephod, and for the priests’ tunics. The wise woman of Proverbs 31:22 wears it. In Ezekiel 16:10 et al. it is paired with silk, and in Ezekiel 27:7 “shesh from Egypt” is spoken of as material for the sails of ships.
Several references to linen use the Hebrew word bad. In Exodus 28:42 the priests’ underwear are made from bad, and it is used thereafter in Leviticus to describe various items of clothing—coat, breeches, girdle, and turban. It turns up again in Samuel’s and King David’s “ephods” and then again in Ezekiel and Daniel, where we see visions of “a man clothed in bad.”
Linen is referred by the Hebrew word buts in 1‑2 Chronicles, Esther, and Ezekiel, where the robes of the Temple choir, kings, and rich men are described.
The Old Testament has some references to the Hebrew word sadin (“linen garment”): Judges 14:12 (Samson promises them to his opponents), Proverbs 31:24 (the wise woman makes them), and Isaiah 3:23 (the rich women of Jerusalem wear them). The Septuagint uses the Greek word bussos or sindōn in these passages.
The Hebrew word ’etun occurs only in Proverbs 7:16, where it refers to a linen bedspread from Egypt.
In the New Testament there are three primary Greek words for linen: linon/linous, sindōn, and othonē/othonion. Linon is used to refer to garments of the angels in Revelation 15:6 as well as to the “smoldering wick” in Matthew 12:20. The synoptic Gospel writers refer to the linen cloth that Joseph and Nicodemus used to wrap Jesus’ body as a sindōn. Mark uses the same word to refer to the cloth that was worn by the unidentified young man at the time of Jesus’ arrest (Mark 14:51f.). John uses a different Greek word for Jesus’ burial cloths: othonion.
The rich man referred to in the Lazarus story (Luke 16:19) is clothed in “fine linen” (bussos). The Greek word bussos is the root word for bussinos, which refers to tunics, robes and turbans made from linen fabric (Revelation 18:12 et al.).
Flax is a little taller than a sesame plant, about a meter (3 feet) tall. Its leaves are narrow and the flowers are bright blue with five petals. The seed capsule contains oil that is used for cooking and also for thinning paint. After flax ripens, the plants are uprooted and the stalks are left to dry for a while. The stalks are then soaked, dried, and beaten to separate the fibers, which are then combed and woven into cloth.
Linen cloth was relatively costly in Israel, and being light and easy to dye it was highly valued. Their priests wore linen garments to combat sweating (see Ezekiel 44:18). They had to remove these holy garments when they left the Temple, “lest they communicate holiness to the people” (Ezekiel 44:19). The high esteem given to linen by the Jews is shown also by the fact that they used it for burying the dead, and we are told that the Dead Sea Scrolls were wrapped in linen cloths. However, the flax plant was special in other ways. The crushed stalks of flax plants were also used for making rope and lamp wicks. The seed was used for oil.
Today flax is raised more for the oil that comes from the seeds (called linseed oil) than for the fibers, although flax stalks are also made into special kinds of paper.
Metaphorical uses of flax are relatively few in the Bible, and all suggest the weakness of the material. In Judges 15:14 flax fiber is used as a simile for Samson’s fetters (they snapped like linen thread). Isaiah 42:3 says the Messiah will be gentle with weak people (“a dimly burning wick [pishtah] he will not quench”), in contrast to the typical iron-fisted tyrants of the day. Isaiah 43:17 describes the fate of the Babylonian enemies: they will be snuffed out “like a wick [pishtah].”
Linen cloth (or other cloth with a similar name) is surprisingly widespread. Cloth merchants in the translators’ area may know it under a trade language name, and if so, that can be used.In some places it is used only for burying people. In that case, if it is used in translation at all, the difference in culture should be explained in a footnote. Since linen is bleached white, a generic phrase such as “beautiful white cloth” can be considered in many places. In the three metaphorical passages mentioned above, an appropriate cultural image may be substituted, or an adverb expressing weakness or fragility.
Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)
Se also linen.
Translation commentary on Esther 1:6
The exact meaning of much of verse 6 is not clear, although it obviously emphasizes the splendor of the banquet. Not connected grammatically with the preceding verse, it is a list or catalog of items describing the royal setting.
The beginning of the verse is literally “white stuff [either cotton or linen], finely woven material [either cotton or linen], purple wool, held fast with cords of fine linen and purple wool on rings of silver and pillars of precious stone and alabaster.” The image described appears to be that purple and white curtains were used as awnings to provide shade from the sun. A descriptive phrase such as “cloths that were spread out and hung from pillars” may be used. The curtains were attached by cords to rings fastened to marble pillars.
The invited guests reclined on the couches while they ate (see Amos 6.4). The Hebrew word for “bed” sometimes refers to a mat placed on the ground and sometimes to the frame on which the mat was placed. Here it is probably the frame itself. The Persians had couches and tables of gold and silver, which may have been covered or plated with gold and silver, or which may have been made from gold and silver.
A mosaic pavement: the ground in the courtyard was paved, that is, it was covered with stones to make the surface hard and beautiful. The surface of the courtyard was a mosaic. It was made of four kinds of colored stones that were arranged in beautiful patterns or designs. Several of the Hebrew words for stones occur only here in the Old Testament, and their meaning is not certain, as the differences in translations indicate.
The first stone is called porphyry in Revised Standard Version. This is a rock that has feldspar crystals, that is, large crystal-like minerals contained within a dark red or purple mass of fine-grained rock. Good News Translation translates this stone as “red feldspar”; Revised English Bible calls it “malachite.”
The second stone is called marble in Revised Standard Version and “white marble” in Good News Translation. Marble is a form of limestone that can be cut and polished for building, or that can be carved by artists for making sculptures.
The third item in the list is apparently mother-of-pearl, which is not a stone. It is the inside of the shell of the clam that produces pearls. The inside of these shells has soft colors like a rainbow. The mother-of-pearl was probably used for making delicate patterns by being inserted into the other stones.
The fourth item also is a word of uncertain meaning. Revised Standard Version and New Jerusalem Bible simply use a generic expression, precious stones; New American Bible and New Revised Standard Version use a similar general expression, “colored stones”; Good News Translation and Revised English Bible say “blue turquoise,” a stone that is found in Persia. New Jerusalem Bible reads “mosaics.”
Even though equivalents for the various names of stones given in the different versions may be difficult to find, it is important to indicate that valuable stones of different colors were used to make a pavement, or “floor,” for the courtyard. Since the names and colors of several of these stones are not known with certainty, the translator may be advised to follow the model of Bible en français courant, which says “a mosaic of red, white, pearly, and black slabs.” In place of mosaic a technical verb such as “laying” or “finishing” a floor may be used.
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 .
SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 1:6
1:6
This verse describes how the garden was decorated. There were marble pillars around the edge of the garden. Blue and white curtains were hung between these pillars and were tied to silver rings on the pillars by purple and white cords. Blue and white were the royal colors of Persia. The meaning of many of the Hebrew words in this verse is not known and that is why there are many differences in detail between the English versions.
1:6a
Hangings of white and blue linen: This probably refers to two separate sets of curtains, one set blue and the other white, not two-colored curtains.
linen: This is a finely woven cloth made from the flax plant.
1:6b
purple: Purple is a color between red and blue.
silver rings: This could refer to:
(1) rings made of silver which were attached to or embedded in the pillars (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Century Version, Contemporary English Version).
(2) silver rods which joined the pillars (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, God’s Word).
It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation.
marble: This is a kind of beautiful stone. It is hard and usually shiny. It can be different colors—white, black or white with stripes of other colors in it. It was used for pillars or for paving, as well as for statues.
1:6c
couches: This means a long low seat, often soft, where someone would normally recline (lie) to eat.
1:6d
mosaic pavement: The ground where the couches were was covered with beautiful stones of different colors arranged in patterns. There are four types of stone listed, but scholars are not sure what the Hebrew words mean, so nearly every version has a different translation. The important thing is that the area was paved with beautiful stones of different colors and this is how the verse has been translated in the Display. It is recommended that you do the same, rather than introducing names of stones which your readers do not know.
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