complete verse (Esther 9:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Esther 9:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “Next morning, the Jews gathered themselves again in Susa and killed three hundred more people, but they did not plunder a single thing from them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “On the 14th day of the month of Adar the Jews having gathered again in one place killed about 300 people in Susa. But again, they took no plunder.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “In-next-morning, (it is) the 14th day of the month of Adar, the Jews who were in Susa gathered-together again, and they were-able-to-kill 300 men. But they did- not -take-away the properties of their enemies.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru: “On the 14th day of the month Adar, the Jews gathered together in the town of Susa, and they killed 300 people in that town, but they did not confiscate their things at all.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • English: “On the next day, the Jews in Susa gathered together and killed 300 more people. But again, they did not take the things that belonged to the people whom they killed.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Esther 9:15   

Many translators interpret the Hebrew to mean that the Jews of verses 5-10 were those living in the citadel and not in the city proper (so New Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible). Good News Translation‘s use of the words “got together again,” however, suggests incorrectly that in verse 15 it is the same people acting again who acted in 9.5-10. Good News Translation emphasizes this interpretation by saying “more people” and “But again,” although these adverbs do not occur in the original text. The final clause is an exact repetition in the Hebrew of the final clause of verse 10 (see above).

On the Good News Translation translation of three hundred men as “three hundred people” (also New Revised Standard Version), see comments on 9.6.

Plunder: see comment on verses 7-10 above.

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 9:15

9:15a

Adar: See note on 3:7d.

9:15c

but they did not lay a hand on the plunder: See notes on 9:10b. The same phrase is repeated here.

Paragraph 9:16–19

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