That these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation: most translations, including Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, render these words as if they refer to future commemoration of “these days,” continuing the time perspective of verse 27, that of people living immediately after the events described in Esther. The Hebrew verbs may, however, be translated to refer to the time when Esther was written, which may have been many years after the events (so New Jerusalem Bible: “Consequently, these days are recalled and observed in every generation”; see also Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). According to this latter interpretation, the writer of Esther appears to have lived several generations after the events narrated in this book. Either interpretation is possible, and translators may choose the more widely accepted interpretation in their context.

In every family is translated as “by every clan” in New American Bible. It may be appropriate to say “in every door,” “in every house,” or “in every concession,” where this refers to households and therefore to families in the large sense.

The style of the verse is again that of near synonyms, repetition, and shift of perspective. Using the feature of parallelism, the author establishes two balanced structures, the first positive, the second negative. The first includes two verbs: days should be remembered and kept. The second includes two clauses: these days … should never fall into disuse and nor should the commemoration of these days cease. Good News Translation restructures to achieve more natural English style, but in doing so it significantly changes the author’s style.

Descendants is literally “seed,” which is often used figuratively in Hebrew to mean the generations that will live after contemporary times.

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 .