As they were drinking wine: most versions faithfully reflect the Hebrew, which says “during the drinking of the wine.” This is interpreted in some versions to mean “at the end of the meal” (so Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Others understand the word drinking to refer to the dinner itself (see comments on 3.15) and translate “at the wine feast” (Chouraqui, New Jerusalem Bible). Since the Hebrew does not indicate precisely who was drinking wine, it is best to use an indefinite they as Revised Standard Version has done, or an expression like Good News Translation‘s “over the wine” that avoids specifying who took part. Esther’s participation should not be made explicit.

From the time the king saw Esther standing in the inner court, he understood her presence to mean that she wished to make a request. In this verse he again asks what it is. His words are poetic in their parallelism. Using near synonyms (petition and request in Revised Standard Version), he twice asks what is her wish, and twice in similar promises, he assures her that it will be granted. The second promise is more emphatic than the first as the king offers up to half his kingdom. The form of the second question and promise is identical with that in verse 3 above, except for the verb fulfilled instead of “given” (Revised Standard Version).

Repetition is found in the poems and songs of most cultures. Parallelism is often found in proverbs and riddles and in dirges. Yet repetition, and especially parallelism, are not easy to translate because they are not always used in the same way from one culture to another. The translator of this verse should try to reflect the poetic nature of the original text as can be seen through Revised Standard Version. Good News Translation offers a model for restructuring. A similar model is the following: “What are you asking? I will give it. Even if it is up to half my kingdom, I will give what you desire.” More extensive restructuring can be as follows: “What you ask, whatever you desire, I will give it to you. I will give even up to the half of my kingdom.”

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 .