נִקְהֲל֨וּ הַיְּהוּדִ֜ים בְּעָרֵיהֶ֗ם בְּכׇל־מְדִינוֹת֙ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵר֔וֹשׁ לִשְׁלֹ֣חַ יָ֔ד בִּמְבַקְשֵׁ֖י רָֽעָתָ֑ם וְאִישׁ֙ לֹא־עָמַ֣ד לִפְנֵיהֶ֔ם כִּֽי־נָפַ֥ל פַּחְדָּ֖ם עַל־כׇּל־הָעַמִּֽים׃

Throughout the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the Jews mustered in their cities to attack those who sought their hurt; and not a single one could withstand them, for the fear of them had fallen upon all the peoples.

(The above rendering comes from the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation. Before accounting for this rendering, I will analyze the plain sense of the Hebrew term containing אִישׁ, by employing a situation-oriented construal as outlined in this introduction, pp. 11–16.)


The Hebrew syntax is marked by its mentioning אִישׁ prior to the negator לֹא. This fronting of אִישׁ has a special meaning: it underscores that there was not even one exception to the stated claim. See further my comment at Judg 21:1 (2 of 2).


As for rendering into English, the NJPS rendering ‘no one’ is too tame. Although technically correct, it misses the marked nuance. The revised rendering adopts a typical device in English for conveying the “no exceptions” point.