Esther

The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Esther” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign depicting a star on a crown, referring to her being a queen and her name likely meaning “star” (see here ). (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Esther” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Esther .

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

complete verse (Esther 4:12)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Esther 4:12:

  • Kupsabiny: “When Mordecai was told about those things,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “And they told Mordecai what she said.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When Mordecai was-told what Ester caused-to-say,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru: “So they went and told Mordecai what Esther has said.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • English: “So Hathach went back to Mordecai and told him what Esther had said.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Esther 4:12   

Some interpreters consider that the plural Hebrew verb they told must be a scribal mistake, since verse 10 says only that Esther gave a message to Hathach and does not mention other eunuchs (so Anchor Bible “When Hatak had conveyed to Mordecai”), but most translations consider the plural here to be indefinite (so Good News Translation, also New American Bible, “When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai”). Like verse 9 above, this is merely a linking verse, and referring to the message-bearer with an indefinite pronoun is consistent with the author’s focus on Mordecai and Esther in this section of the story.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Esther 4:12

-13

Paragraph 4:12–14

© 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, unles