The men next to the king apparently belong to the group of “wise men” mentioned in verse 13. Though the words next to him may indicate physical closeness, most versions understand them as meaning that the seven men were close in rank or relationship to the king (“seven counselors” are also mentioned in Ezra 7.14). Of these seven Persian names, only Memucan occurs again (verses 16, 21).
On the identity of Persia and Media, see the comments on 1.3.
The words who saw the king’s face mean that these men had easy access to the king. The same Hebrew expression is found in 2 Sam 14.24, 32, where it is translated “come [or, go] into the king’s presence” (Revised Standard Version). In this verse other versions have “who were in the king’s personal service” (New American Bible); “who had access to the royal presence” (New Jerusalem Bible). Since it was possible for other people to gain access to the king, the New International Version and New Jerusalem Bible translations capture the sense of the text here: “who had special access to the king” (New International Version); “who had privileged access to the royal presence” (New Jerusalem Bible).
That these seven men sat first in the kingdom indicates that they had chairs or thrones on which they sat, beside and in front of the king. Moffatt says “sat next to the royal throne.” The meaning is that these men were leading officials in the Persian Empire. Revised English Bible says that they “occupied the premier positions in the kingdom.”
Good News Translation combines the two phrases who saw the king’s face and sat first in the kingdom into one expression: “who held the highest offices in the kingdom.” Such a translation maintains the basic sense that these were high-ranking officials, but it loses the cultural element that it was only such high officials who had ready access to the king (for the contrast with ordinary people, see 4.11). It may be possible to retain the two ideas expressed in the Hebrew by saying something like “they sat before the king in the highest [or, biggest] places,” or “they were the real big-men who sat before the face of the king.” These models would resolve the problem of explicitly stating kingdom in languages where it may be difficult to speak of an abstract political entity like a kingdom or 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 .