unfoldingWord® Translation Notes Esther Version 27 Copyrights & Licensing unfoldingWord® Translation Notes Date: 2020-03-25 Version: 27 Published by: unfoldingWord unfoldingWord® Literal Text Date: 2020-03-25 Version: 10 Published by: unfoldingWord unfoldingWord® Simplified Text Date: 2020-03-25 Version: 10 Published by: unfoldingWord unfoldingWord® Translation Academy Date: 2020-03-25 Version: 12 Published by: unfoldingWord® unfoldingWord® Translation Words Date: 2020-03-25 Version: 14 Published by: unfoldingWord unfoldingWord® Greek New Testament Date: 2020-02-20 Version: 0.12 Published by: unfoldingWord unfoldingWord® Hebrew Bible Date: 2020-02-20 Version: 2.1.11 Published by: unfoldingWord unfoldingWord® Translation Notes Copyright © 2019 by unfoldingWord This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 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You must also make your derivative work available under the same license (CC BY-SA). 2 / 409 If you would like to notify unfoldingWord regarding your translation of this work, please contact us at unfoldingword.org/contact/. 3 / 409 Table of Contents unfoldingWord® Translation Notes 8 Esther 8 Introduction to Esther 9 Esther 1 11 Esther 2 34 Esther 3 60 Esther 4 77 Esther 5 95 Esther 6 110 Esther 7 125 Esther 8 137 Esther 9 158 Esther 10 193 unfoldingWord® Translation Academy 197 Abstract Nouns 198 Active or Passive 200 Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information 203 Background Information 206 Biblical Distance 209 Biblical Money 212 Doublet 214 Euphemism 216 First, Second or Third Person 218 Hebrew Months 220 Hendiadys 223 How to Translate Names 226 Hyperbole 230 Idiom 234 Introduction of a New Event 236 Introduction of New and Old Participants 239 Merism 242 Metaphor 244 Metonymy 250 Numbers 252 Ordinal Numbers 255 Personification 257 Rhetorical Question 259 Symbolic Action 262 Synecdoche 264 Translate Unknowns 266 unfoldingWord® Translation Words 269 administration, administrator, administering 270 adversary, enemy 271 4 / 409 Ahasuerus 272 ancestor, father, fathered, forefather, grandfather 273 appoint, appointed 274 assembly, assemble, congregation, meeting 275 Babylon, Babylonia, Babylonian 276 banquet 277 Benjamin, Benjamite 278 bow, bow down, knelt, bend, bend the knee 279 brother 280 call, call out 281 captive, captivate, captivity, catch, captured 283 column, pillar 284 command, commandment 285 concubine 286 condemn, condemned, condemnation 287 contempt, contemptible, not worth listening to 288 covenant faithfulness, covenant loyalty, covenant love 289 crown, crowned 290 cry, cry out, outcry 291 decree, decreed 292 delight 293 deliver, deliverer, deliverance, hand over, turn over, released, ... 294 destroy, destruction, annihilate 295 die, dead, deadly, death, 296 Esther 298 Ethiopia, Ethiopian 299 evil, wicked, unpleasant 300 exile, exiled 302 face, facial 303 family, household 304 fast, fasting 305 favor, favorable, favoritism 306 fear, afraid, dread 307 feast, feasting 308 gate, gate bars, gatekeeper, gateposts, gateway 309 generation 310 glory, glorious, glorify 311 gold, golden 313 good, right, pleasant, pleasing, better, best 314 govern, government, governor, proconsul 316 hand 317 hang, hung 319 head 320 heart 321 honor 322 horse, warhorse, horseback 323 5 / 409 house 324 Jerusalem 325 Jew, Jewish 326 joy, joyful, enjoy, rejoice, gladness, rejoicing 327 Judah 329 judge, judgment 330 king, kingdom, kingship 332 kingdom 333 know, knowledge, unknown, distinguish 335 law, principle 336 life, live, living, alive 337 lord, Lord, master, sir 339 lots, casting lots 341 love, beloved 342 Mede, Medes, Media 344 Mordecai 345 mourn, mourner, weeping 346 name 347 Nebuchadnezzar 348 noble, nobleman, royal official 349 obey, obedient 350 oversee, overseer 351 palace 352 peace, peaceful, peacemakers 353 people, people group, 354 perish 356 Persia, Persians 357 plea, plead, beg, implore 358 power, powerful, powerfully 359 prostrate, worship 361 province, provincial 362 purple 363 queen 364 rage 365 reign, rule 366 rest, rested, restless 367 royal, royalty, king's, queen's 368 sackcloth 369 scepter 370 scribe 371 seal, sealed, unsealed 372 seed, semen 373 seek, search, look for 374 servant, serve, slave, worker, young man, young women 375 silver 377 slaughter, slaughtered 378 6 / 409 son 379 soul, self 381 splendor 382 stronghold, fortifications, fortress, citadel 383 sword, swordsmen 384 threshold, doorway 385 throne, enthroned 386 time, untimely, date 387 tongue, language 388 tremble, stagger 389 trespass 390 tribute, contribution, fined 391 true, truth 392 Vashti 394 virgin, virginity 395 watch, watchman, watchful, guard, take heed, beware, watch out 396 wine, wineskin, new wine 397 wise men, advisor 398 wrath, fury 399 wrong, wronged, wrongdoer, mistreat, hurt, hurtful 400 Contributors 401 unfoldingWord® Translation Notes Contributors 401 unfoldingWord® Literal Text Contributors 407 unfoldingWord® Simplified Text Contributors 408 unfoldingWord® Translation Academy Contributors 408 unfoldingWord® Translation Words Contributors 409 7 / 409 unfoldingWord® Translation Notes unfoldingWord® Translation Notes Esther 8 / 409 unfoldingWord® Translation Notes Introduction to Esther Introduction to Esther Part 1: General Introduction Outline of Esther 1. King Ahasuerus sends away his wife, the queen (1:1–22) 2. Ahasuerus chooses Esther as the new queen (2:1–23) 3. Haman plots to destroy the Jews (3:1–15) 4. Mordecai asks Esther to help her people (4:1–17) 5. Esther pleads with the king for the Jews (5:1–7:10) 6. The result of Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews (8:1–9:16) 7. The Feast of Purim (9:17–32) 8. Conclusion (10:1–3) What is the Book of Esther about? The Book of Esther tells how a young Jewish woman named Esther became the queen of Persia. As queen, she worked to save all the Jews in the Persian Empire from being destroyed. This book ends by telling why the Jews celebrate the festival of Purim. The name “Purim” comes from the word “pur.” It means “lots” or “dice.” Haman, the enemy of Jews, threw dice to choose when to attack and destroy the Jews. The Jews celebrate Purim to remember how Yahweh rescued his people from being destroyed. How should the title of this book be translated? Translators can use the traditional title of this book, which is “The Book of Esther” or just “Esther.” Or they can choose a clearer title, such as “The Book About Esther.” Part 2: Important Religious and Cultural Concepts What was the Persian Empire? King Cyrus the Great conquered and ruled over many kingdoms. This was in the part of the world called Persia, which is now Iran. So people named his kingdom the Persian Empire. When Cyrus conquered Babylonia in 539 B.C., he then controlled the Jews whom the Babylonians had exiled. Why were there Jews in Babylonia when the Persians conquered it? In 586 B.C., the Babylonians conquered and took into exile the people of Judah. These Jews and their descendants were still in Babylon when the Persians conquered it. What was meant by “the laws of the Medes and Persians”? The phrase “the laws of the Medes and Persians” is found in Esther 1:19 and Daniel 6:12. It referred to laws and decrees that could not be changed or removed once they were issued. In the book of Esther, the king made a decree that the people could attack the Jews. Later he regretted that decision but he was not able to change the decree. The term “Medes” refers to a people group that had formed its own nation, but the Persians conquered them. 9 / 409 unfoldingWord® Translation Notes Introduction to Esther Part 3: Important Translation Issues What different levels of language are in the Book of Esther? In the Book of Esther, people talk to each other in many different situations. There is the polite and stately talk in the Persian court and the words of royal decrees. Friends and close relatives also talk to each other. There are even the words that one uses in speaking to oneself. Translators should use all the ways their own language has to express these different situations in a way that their readers will identify and understand. 10 / 409 unfoldingWord® Translation Notes Introduction to Esther :: Esther 1 General Notes Esther 1 Esther 1 General Notes Special concepts in this chapter The king’s divorce The king’s advisers were afraid that husbands would lose their authority when they heard the queen had refused to come to show her beauty to the king’s guests; so the advisers told him to divorce her. 11 / 409 unfoldingWord® Translation Notes Introduction to Esther :: Esther 1:1 Esther 1:1 In the days of Ahasuerus ULT “In the time of Ahasuerus” or “When Ahasuerus was ruling as king” 1 Now it happened in the days of Ahasuerus (he was Ahasuerus, the one this is Ahasuerus who reigned from India as far as who ruled from India even as far as Cush, over 127 provinces Ethiopia, 127 provinces); This is background information to help the reader identify UST Ahasuerus. (See: Background Information) 1 This account happened during the provinces reign of Ahasuerus. This king named Ahasuerus ruled a very large empire A province is a large area into which some countries are divided for which had 127 provinces, extending the purposes of government.