13Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces, giving orders to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, children and women, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Esther 3:13:
Kupsabiny: “The people whose work it was to bring those letters to all the provinces were sent off. Those letters ordered that the Jews be killed wherever they are, including young people and elders, women and children. Those letters said that those people be killed, and their wealth taken. All that work should happen in one day, and that day was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “In this way, in the 13th day of the 12th month, [the month] called Adar, a letter was sent by couriers to all provinces of the country, [saying that] all the Jews, young, old, women and children were to be killed and annihilated, till even the name would no longer exist, and then to take and plunder their property.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “This letter will-be-sent to the all the provinces of the kingdom through the messengers. In this letter (it is) commanded to really kill in just one day all the Jews, young and old, including the females and children, and all their properties will-be-taken. It will-be-done on the 13th day of the 12th month, which is the month of Adar.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Eastern Bru: “They had people carry this paper to every country that king Xerxes ruled. In this paper was written: "On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (the month Adar) you much kill every Jewish person young or old, children or adults, not sparing anyone. And you must take all their possessions."” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
English: “On April 17th Haman summoned the king’s secretaries, and he dictated a letter to them that they translated and wrote to all the governors and administrators and other officials in all the provinces. They wrote copies of the letter in every language and every kind of writing/alphabet that was used in the empire. They wrote that all the Jews, including young people and old people, women and children, had to be killed on one day. That day was March 7th of the following year. They also wrote that those who killed the Jews could take everything that belonged to the Jews. They signed the king’s name at the end of the letters. Then they sealed the letters with wax, and stamped the wax by using the king’s ring. Then they sent the letters swiftly to every province in the empire,” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) 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.”
Letters were written documents. They may be referred to as “what was written,” “the writings,” or “the [written] messages.”
The word couriers is literally “runners” in Hebrew (see also verse 15 below). It is possible that the messengers here were running on foot, as Good News Translation implies. However, the Persian Empire had couriers who were famous for carrying messages great distances quickly, traveling by horse. Therefore, since the same word occurs in 8.10, 14, where the “runners” were on horseback, it is also possible that the “couriers” here traveled by horse. Horses are explicitly mentioned in chapter 8, because emphasis in the plot of the story there requires more focus on the speed with which the letters were sent.
The king’s provinces: see comments on 1.1. The Good News Translation translation “every province of the empire” omits direct reference to the king, thereby shifting attention away from the central role of the king in all of the provinces.
No real distinction of meaning is intended among the words destroy, slay, and annihilate. The repetition of similar words indicating thoroughness of the action is consistent with the writer’s style and should be retained if it has the same effect in the receptor language. In addition to destroying in a general sense, and killing in a specific sense, some languages have a special verb or expression for killing in great quantities, that is, totally liquidating wild game or people.
All Jews, young … children: by specifically designating young and old, women and children, the writer is not excluding men. That men were to be killed is understood without being stated. The additional mention of women and children has the sense “even young and old, women and children.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes this explicit: “All Jews—men, women, and children.” In Hebrew the word order is literally “child and women.” The translator should follow this order of presentation as Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has done, unless it is unnatural or gives a wrong meaning. Since it is more natural in English to say “women and children,” most English translations have reversed the order.
Plunder their goods: their belongings were not merely to be taken, but all their wealth was to be seized as booty.
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 .
couriers: These were people whose job was to travel throughout the empire delivering important messages.
3:13b
destroy, kill, and annihilate: These three words are similar in meaning and when used together cause the language to be very strong. The Display shows one way of translating this.
3:13c
Adar: See note on 3:7d.
3:13d
plunder their possessions: This means to take and keep the belongings of the people they had killed.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.