Esther 1:22

22 He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own household, using his native tongue.

Esther 1:22 in Other Translations

22 For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be published according to the language of every people.

22 He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people.

22 He sent letters to all parts of the empire, to each province in its own script and language, proclaiming that every man should be the ruler of his own home and should say whatever he pleases.

22 He sent bulletins to every part of the kingdom, to each province in its own script, to each people in their own language: "Every man is master of his own house; whatever he says, goes."

22 He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to each province in its own script and to each ethnic group in its own language, that every man should be master of his own house and speak in the language of his own people.

Esther 1:22 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 1:22

For he sent letters unto all the king's provinces
The one hundred and twenty seven provinces, ( Esther 1:1 ) , which, according to the Targum, were written and sealed with his own seal; which is very probable: into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every
people after their language;
that is, these letters were written in the language, and in the characters in which that language was written, used in each of the provinces to which these letters were sent, that they might be easily read and understood by all: the sum of which was, that every man should bear rule in his own house;
be prince, lord, and master there, and his commands obeyed, not only by his children and servants, but by his wife also: and that it should be published according to the language of every
people;
but as this is expressed, or at least implied, in the first clause of this verse, it should rather be rendered, "and that he should speak according to the language of his people"; and so is the latter Targum; it seems as if a man, who had married a woman in another country, in complaisance to her had neglected his own native tongue, and used hers in the family, by which means he lost, or seemed to lose, his authority in it: now, to guard against this, this part of the law was made; and, according to Jarchi, the husband was to compel his wife to learn and speak his language, if she was a foreigner; to which agrees the first Targum, which paraphrases the whole thus,

``that a man rule over his wife, and oblige her to speak according to the language of her husband, and the speech of his people;''

and, in later times, Bahram Gaur forbid any other language, besides the Persian, to be used within his port, either in speaking or writing ^F2.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 Vid. Castel. Lexic. Persic. col. 266.

Esther 1:22 In-Context

20 Then when the king’s edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest.”

21 The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memukan proposed.

22 He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own household, using his native tongue.

Cross References

• 1. S Nehemiah 13:24; Esther 8:9; Ephesians 5:22-24; 1 Timothy 2:12