OET interlinear EST 3:9

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

אִם־עַל־הַ⁠מֶּ֣לֶךְ ט֔וֹב

if on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in the=king good

Haman speaks to the king in third person as a form of respect.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

אִם־עַל־הַ⁠מֶּ֣לֶךְ ט֔וֹב

if on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in the=king good

See how you decided to translate this idiom in 1:19. Alternate translation: “if it seems like a good idea to you, O king” or “if the king thinks this is a good idea” or “if this advice is pleasing to the king”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

יִכָּתֵ֖ב

decreed

You can say this with an active form, and you can say who would do the action. For example, you could say, “the king could write a decree” or “you could write a decree.”

לְ⁠אַבְּדָ֑⁠ם

to,destroy,their

This means that the decree would say that all the Jews should be killed.

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

אֶשְׁקוֹל֙ עַל־יְדֵי֙ עֹשֵׂ֣י הַ⁠מְּלָאכָ֔ה

pay on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in hands have_charge_of the,business

This could mean either of two possibilities: (1) Haman could mean that the king’s men will be able to collect a huge amount of money from the plunder that they would get from the Jews. Referring to the weight would be a way of saying, “I guarantee that it will be at least that much.” This reasoning agrees with 3:13, where the king’s letter specifies that those who kill the Jews can take their plunder. Alternate translation: “we will get so much plunder that the officers you send will be able to bring back” (Also see UST) (2) “Weigh out into the hands” could be an idiom that means Haman himself will pay the officers who will put the plan into effect. Haman will not do this personally, but it means that he will take responsibility for paying them from his own resources. Alternate translation: “From my own resources I will pay … to the men who do the work”

Note 5 topic: translate-bmoney

וַ⁠עֲשֶׂ֨רֶת אֲלָפִ֜ים כִּכַּר־כֶּ֗סֶף

and,ten thousand talents silver

This would be worth over $300 million at current prices today. But since prices vary over time, if you expressed the value in modern measurements, that could cause your Bible translation to become outdated and inaccurate. Instead you could express the amount using the ancient measurement, the talent, and explain in a note that a talent was equivalent to about 30 kilograms. Alternatively, you could specify the weight of the silver in the text, as UST does in metric tons.

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole

וַ⁠עֲשֶׂ֨רֶת אֲלָפִ֜ים כִּכַּר־כֶּ֗סֶף

and,ten thousand talents silver

The talent was the largest unit of money and 10,000 was the largest number in the counting system of the time. It is possible that Haman used these terms to represent a very large, but not precise, amount. Alternate translation: “a huge amount of silver” or “enormous amounts of silver”

עֹשֵׂ֣י הַ⁠מְּלָאכָ֔ה

have_charge_of the,business

This could mean: (1) those who work for the king in general (administrators) or (2) more specifically the officers whom Ahasuerus would send around the empire to organize the killing of the Jews.

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

גִּנְזֵ֥י הַ⁠מֶּֽלֶךְ

treasury the,king's

Haman speaks to the king in third person as a form of respect. You could also have him speak of “your royal treasuries.”