Esther

The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Esther” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign depicting a star on a crown, referring to her being a queen and her name likely meaning “star” (see here ). (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Esther” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Esther .

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

complete verse (Esther 7:1)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Esther 7:1:

  • Kupsabiny: “So the king and Haman went back to eat/celebrate another feast which Esther had prepared.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then the king and Haman also went for the second time to Queen Esther’s place to eat a feast.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “King Ahasuerus and Haman had-supper/dinner with King Ester.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru: “King Xerxes and Haman went to attend the feast at the home of queen Esther.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • English: “So the king and Haman went to eat the second banquet/feast that Queen Esther had prepared.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Esther and Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes)

The following is a 1957 stained glass window by Charles F. Blakeman from the Our Lady of Victories, Kensington, in London:

Source: Art in the Christian Tradition , a project of the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Original source: photograph taken by Father Lawrence Lew, O.P., available on Flickr

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

king

Click here to view graphically

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:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • 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.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on Esther 7:1-2

So the king: both Revised Standard Version and Today’s English Version use the conjunction So to link this verse with the final verse of the preceding chapter, in which the new episode began.

To feast is literally “to drink.” The implied object is wine (see verse 2).

The Revised Standard Version translation And on the second day seems to suggest that this second feast continued for a second day. An American Translation likewise suggests that the second feast continued for at least two days: “and the king said again to Esther on the second day of the banquet of wine.” More probably, though, the words on the second day mean the second day that was mentioned in 5.8, following the first day of 5.4-6. Some translations say “and again on that second day” (Revised English Bible) or “again, on this second day” (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), adding the words “this” or “that” for clarity. Other translations such as Today’s English Version and Bible en français courant restructure and say “And so the king and Haman went to eat with Esther for a second time.” Today’s English Version thereby makes clear that “the second day” means the day of the second banquet.

As they were drinking wine: for comments see 5.6 above. The king here repeats his double question of the first day. His questions and promises take the identical poetic form of the first time, except that this time he addresses Esther by her title of Queen (see comments at 5.6).

My kingdom: as in 5.3, the king specifies that the kingdom is his. Today’s English Version makes the fact of possession implicit by saying “the empire.”

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 7:1

Section 7:1–10

The king commanded that Haman should die

When the king and Haman came to Esther’s second feast, Esther begged the king not to allow her and the other Jews to be killed. When the king heard that it was Haman who had ordered their destruction, he was very angry and left the room. When he returned, he found Haman pleading with Esther, but since he was lying on the couch on which Esther also was lying, he suspected him of trying to rape Esther and ordered his death. So Haman was hung on the tall pole which he had had erected for putting Mordecai to death.

Paragraph 7:1–4

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