11By these letters the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to assemble and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, their children, and their women, and to plunder their goods
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Esther 8:11:
Kupsabiny: “Those letters allowed/permitted the Jews in every town to gather themselves and prepare to destroy all enemies who would attack them. Those letters also allowed the Jews to loot the wealth of their enemies.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “As it was written in the royal decree, all the Jews were allowed to gather in one place in their cities to protect their lives. It was also written that whatever nationality or tribe come against the Jews, their wives and their children with weapons to attack them, the Jews are to fight against them and, having killed them, and destroyed them one by one, they may take their land and all their property.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Through that letter, King Ahasuerus allowed the Jews in every city to-unite to defend themselves. They can kill anyone who would attack them from any nation or province, including their women and children. And they can also take-away the properties of their enemies.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Eastern Bru: “In this paper they wrote to tell people that the Jews in whatever city to block and preserve their lives and the lives of their wives and children. But if soldiers from whatever group or whatever country comes to fight them, then let them fight back and kill back those people. Then they could kill all of the people who want to come against them and take all the belongings of those people.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
English: “They wrote in those letters that the Jews in every city were permitted by the king to gather together to protect themselves. They also were permitted to kill any group of soldiers who attacked them. They were also permitted to kill the women and children of those who attacked them, and to take the possessions of the people whom they killed.” (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.”
By these refers back to the letters of the preceding verse. The translator may need to be more explicit and say “In these letters the king gave the way” or “In the letters [mentioned], the king gave authority.”
To gather and defend their lives is translated in Good News Translation as “to organize for self-defense.” “Organize” may imply more than the original gather, so “gather for self-defense” will be closer to the original.
Defend their lives: this is literally “to stand upon their nefesh” (see comments on 7.3), and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible interprets it to mean “to be on the alert.” However, most versions translate similarly to Revised Standard Version. It may be necessary to restate as “to protect themselves” (New International Version) or “to fight for their lives” (New Jerusalem Bible).
With their children and women poses a difficult problem for translators. Most translators consider these words to be patterned after 3.13, in which non-Jewish people were given permission “to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children.” New Jerusalem Bible is unambiguous in 8.11: “they may destroy, massacre, and exterminate its armed force together with women and children, and plunder their possessions” (also Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente actually restructures the verse and places “children and women” before “the armed force of any people”: “to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, kill, and annihilate, including children and women, all the armed force of any people.” Bible en français courant says “They can even kill their women and their children and plunder their goods” (see also New American Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).
The Hebrew syntax of verses 3.13 and 8.11, however, is different; and it is possible to take the words with their children and women as the object of the participle “attacking” as in Good News Translation (see also New International Version and An American Translation), rather than as the object of the verbs destroy, slay, and annihilate. Verses 9.12, 15 say that “men” were slain by the Jews, but they do not mention women and children. Possibly the use of “men” in these two verses is not intended to exclude women and children, but the fact that women and children are not specifically mentioned may give some support to the interpretation followed by Good News Translation.
Gordis argues that the end of this verse and all of the next verse are a quotation from the decree of 3.13. His translation of verses 11-12 is as follows:
• … that the king was permitting the Jews in every city to assemble to defend themselves, and to destroy, kill, and annihilate the armed force of any people or province attacking “them, their children and their women, their goods to be taken as booty, on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is Adar.”
Good News Translation and the translation by Gordis both reject the interpretation found in nearly all translations, that is, that the Jews are authorized to kill not only enemy soldiers but also children and women of the people who attack them. The most natural reading of the Hebrew, however, supports the Revised Standard Version translation. New Century Version, which follows the recommended interpretation, provides a clear translation:
• These were the king’s orders: The Jews in every city have the right to gather together to protect themselves. They have the right to destroy, kill and completely wipe out the army of any area or people who attack them. And they are to do the same to the women and children of that army. The Jews also have the right to take by force the property of the enemies.
Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente provides another model that may be helpful:
• In the letters it was written that the king authorized [or, gave the right to] the Jews wherever they lived to organize themselves for defense. In case of armed aggression by men of any population or province, the Jews have the right to defend themselves. They can fight the army and kill all their enemies, including women and children, and seize their possessions.
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 .
destroy, kill, and annihilate: See notes on 3:13b and 7:4a.
including women and children: The commentaries disagree about which women and children are being referred to. There are two possibilities:
(1) It refers to the women and children of their attackers (Berean Standard Bible, New Century Version, Contemporary English Version, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, Revised English Bible, God’s Word, Revised Standard Version).
(2) It refers to the Jewish women and children (New International Version, Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004)).
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), since it is supported by most of the commentaries and is a more natural way to understand the Hebrew.
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