complete verse (Esther 9:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Esther 9:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “On that day in which it had been prepared for those things to happen, the Jews started a serious war/battle stabbing their enemies with swords. Those Jews destroyed those people and suppressed/defeated them completely” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The Jews attacked all their enemies and annihilated [them] by killing [them] with the sword.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So the Jews killed all their enemies with the sword. They did anything they want with these the ones-who-go-against them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru: “Because of that, the Jews were able to fight against those who wanted to harm them as much as they wished. They took fighting swords and killed them.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • English: “On March 7th, the Jews attacked and killed with their swords all of their enemies. They did whatever they wanted to do, to the people who hated them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Esther 9:5   

This verse picks up the story line again after the parenthetical information provided in verses 3 and 4. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation use the adverbial discourse marker So (Hebrew waw) to indicate the resumption of the plot.

In the first clause the Hebrew says literally “they struck all their enemies with the striking of the sword, a slaughter, a destruction.” Although the adjective all should perhaps not be taken literally, it should not be omitted (compare Good News Translation). The book of Esther is literature, and this verse is a climactic point in the story. The appositional use of two verbal nouns that are near synonyms, “a slaughter, a destruction,” adds force to the words “striking of the sword.”

The first clause is followed by a second parallel clause that depicts the action of the Jews in slightly different terms. As they pleased is literally “according to their will [or, pleasure].” The implied meaning may be that the government officials did not interfere, but more likely the sense is simply that the Jews treated their enemies in whatever manner they desired.

Good News Translation restructures the verse in the form of two sentences which it reverses to reflect a logic that proceeds from the general to the specific (so also Bible en français courant). The Hebrew follows a different logic, from the specific to the general, from the description of the Jews’ action to a summary statement of their complete mastery over their enemies. The translator should see which logic is more natural in the receptor language. If there is no reason to change, it best to follow the order of the Hebrew, as most versions do.

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 .