SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 2000 – Page 13

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 7:3

7:3a

O king: As usual, you will need to choose the appropriate term in your language for addressing the king.

7:3b

and if it pleases the king: See note on 1:19a.

7:3c

petition…request: See note on 5:7.

© 2000 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 7:4

7:4a

have been sold out: This could refer to the money Haman offered to the king (see note on 3:9b) or as a way of saying “betrayed” or “handed over to.” It is probably the latter.

destruction, death, and annihilation: These are translated from the same three Hebrew verbs as in 3:13b. See the note on that verse. Even if you do not use three words in your translation, be sure to use language that is very strong and includes the idea of no Jew being left alive.

7:4c

no such distress would justify burdening the king: The meaning of this clause in Hebrew is not clear because several of the words have more than one meaning. The two most likely meanings are:

(1) If Haman had intended only to sell the Jews as slaves, that would not have been sufficient reason to trouble the king with the problem.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Century Version, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word)

(2) The word translated distress in the Berean Standard Bible can also mean “enemy” and the verb translated burdening can also mean “compensate.” So the expression means that no enemy would be able to compensate for the loss to the king caused by the death of so many of the people in the empire.

(New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 7:5

Paragraph 7:5–7

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 7:6

7:6a

adversary and enemy: These are two words that have similar meaning. If you do not have two words you can use here, you can combine them into one expression.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 7:7

7:7a

The king went out of the room because he was very angry with Haman. He needed time to decide what to do about him and how to help Esther.

Paragraph 7:8–10

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 7:8

7:8a

couch: See note on 1:6c.

7:8b

Would he actually assault the queen while I am in the palace?: This is a rhetorical question. The Display shows one way of expressing this as a statement.

7:8c

they covered Haman’s face: Most scholars think that this action showed that Haman was condemned to death. You will need to find some way of making this clear to your readers. The Display shows one way of doing this. However, if you are using footnotes in your translation, it would be better to put this information in a footnote.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 7:9

7:9b

gallows: See note on 2:23b.

7:9c

gave the report that saved the king: This refers to when Mordecai told the king about the plot to kill him and so saved his life. See 2:21–23.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 7:10

7:10a

hanged…on the gallows: See note on 2:23b.

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Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 2000