וַיֹּ֤אמֶר הָמָן֙ לַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵר֔וֹשׁ יֶשְׁנ֣וֹ עַם־אֶחָ֗ד מְפֻזָּ֤ר וּמְפֹרָד֙ בֵּ֣ין הָֽעַמִּ֔ים בְּכֹ֖ל מְדִינ֣וֹת מַלְכוּתֶ֑ךָ וְדָתֵיהֶ֞ם שֹׁנ֣וֹת מִכָּל־עָ֗ם וְאֶת־דָּתֵ֤י הַמֶּ֨לֶךְ֙ אֵינָ֣ם עֹשִׂ֔ים וְלַמֶּ֥לֶךְ אֵין־שֹׁוֶ֖ה לְהַנִּיחָֽם׃
8Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not appropriate for the king to tolerate them.
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Haman” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign for “stuck up,” exemplified in Esther 5:11. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
“Haman” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España
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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 If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior.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).
In making his accusation against the Jews, Haman carefully avoids identifying them by name. This pattern of accusation without identification is repeated several times in the book of Esther until the climactic accusation by Esther of Haman (see 7.4-6).
The Jews were scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces. The Jews were scattered, that is, they were living in exile.
The word dispersed is often understood as a synonym of scattered (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation), meaning that the Jews were separated from one another. But the Hebrew word translated as dispersed in Revised Standard Version should probably be understood to mean “separated from other peoples” (so New Revised Standard Version), meaning that the Jews did not eat with or intermarry with the Gentiles among whom they lived (also Bible en français courant). This latter interpretation is found in New American Bible, “Dispersed among the nations throughout the provinces of your kingdom, there is a certain people living apart, with laws differing from those of every other people,” and New Jerusalem Bible, “There is a certain unassimilated nation scattered among the other nations throughout the provinces of your realm.” Other models for this interpretation are “a certain people scattered and unassimilated among the peoples” (FOX) and “There is one people scattered and distinctive among the nations” (Gordis).
Provinces: see 1.1.
Their laws: Haman’s indictment of the Jews rests on their laws and the king’s laws. The laws obeyed by the Jews are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. The word for laws is the same as that found in “the laws of the Persians and the Medes” (1.19; see also 1.8, 13; 2.8) and is used for both the laws of the Jews and the king’s laws. Some versions interpret the first to be “customs” (Bible en français courant, New International Version), but this lessens the impact of the contrast presented by the author.
And they do not keep the king’s law: these words are connected to the preceding words with the conjunction and (waw), which joins together nouns and clauses. The precise function of this conjunction is often determined by the surface grammar of a passage within its context. In this instance interpreters differ on the exact relationship between this clause and the preceding clause. According to Revised Standard Version (and), the second criticism of the Jews is no more severe than the first, that is, that their laws are different (so also New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant). Good News Translation, however, understands the second clause to be a heightening of the accusation and translates the Hebrew conjunction with the word “moreover.” Similar to Good News Translation are Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, “but in addition.” The context is sufficiently ambiguous that translators must decide between these two interpretations without any more evidence to help make the decision.
It is not for the king’s profit to tolerate them: this means that it is of no use or of no benefit to the king to let them be. “It will not help the king” to let the Jews continue to exist as they have been, or “to let them continue living in your kingdom” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).
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 .