Esther 1:22
in Esther 1He sent letters to all the provinces of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be master of his own household.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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 should speak according to the language of his people.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Esther 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThat every man should bear rule in his own house - Both God’s law and common sense taught this from the foundation of the world. And is it possible that this did not obtain in the Persian empire, previously to this edict? The twentieth verse has another clause, That all wives shall give to their husbands honor, both to great and small. This also was universally understood. This law did nothing. I suppose the parade of enactment was only made to deprive honest Vashti of her crown.
This site's exposition
The king and his princes
on Esther 1:21-22
Letters go to each province "in its own script" and to each people "in their own language". The empire's post carries a matter born of one queen's refusal, and the narrator reports it without comment. The book keeps that silence throughout and never names God behind its events.
This site's exposition
He sent letters to all the
Barnes notes that the Achaemenian kings addressed their subject nations in their own speech, as their inscriptions in two and three languages show. He judges the decree a real protest against the influence women held at the Persian court. Atossa ruled Darius, and Amestris ruled Xerxes late in his reign.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
8 And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure. 9 Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus. Which of the kings of Persia this Ahasuerus was the learned are not agreed.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:88%@v8-10
): were they better than the queen? Whether it was the passion or the policy of the king that was served by this edict, God's providence served its own purpose by it, which was to make way for Esther to the crown.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
How does this Heathen prince shame many, that are called Christians, who think they do not make their friends welcome, unless they make them drunk, and under pretense of sending the health round, send the sin round, and death with it! Women - While the king entertained the men. For this was the common custom of the Persians, that men and women did not feast together.
For he sent letters unto all the king's provinces,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He sent letters - The Persian system of posts incidentally noticed in the present book Est 3:12-15; Est 8:9-14, is in entire harmony with the accounts of Herodotus and Xenophon. Into every province according to the writing thereof - The practice of the Persians to address proclamations to the subject-nations in their own speech, and not merely in the language of the conqueror, is illustrated by the bilingual and trilingual inscriptions of the Achaemenian monarchs, from Cyrus to Artaxerxes Ochus, each inscription being of the nature of a proclamation. The decree was not unnecessary. The undue influence of women in domestic, and even in public, matters is a feature of the ancient Persian monarchy. Atossa completely ruled Darius. Xerxes himself was, in his later years, shamefully subject to Amestris. The example of the court would naturally infect the people. The decree therefore would be a protest, even if ineffectual, against a real and growing evil. And that it should be published ... - Render it: “and speak the language of his own people;” in the sense that the wife’s language, if different from her husband’s, should in no case be allowed to prevail in the household.
The words behind it
22 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח | vaiyishlach | and he sent out | H7971 → | 845 times |
| סְפָרִים֙ | sefarim | documents | H5612 → | 186 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מְדִינ֣וֹת | medinot | [the] provinces of | H4082 → | 53 times |
| הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מְדִינָ֤ה | medinah | province | H4082 → | 53 times |
| וּמְדִינָה֙ | umedinah | and province | H4082 → | 53 times |
| כִּכְתָבָ֔הּ | kikhtavah | according to writing its | H3791 → | 17 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עַ֥ם | ʾam | people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וָעָ֖ם | vaam | and people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כִּלְשׁוֹנ֑וֹ | kilshono | according to language its | H3956 → | 117 times |
| לִהְי֤וֹת | lihyot | to be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אִישׁ֙ | ʾish | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| שֹׂרֵ֣ר | sorer | ruler | H8323 → | |
| בְּבֵית֔וֹ | beveito | in own household his | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וּמְדַבֵּ֖ר | umedaber | and speaking | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| כִּלְשׁ֥וֹן | kilshon | according to [the] language of | H3956 → | 117 times |
| עַמּֽוֹ׃ פ | amo | people his | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וַיִּשְׁלַ֤חand he sent out
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
סְפָרִים֙documents
sefarimH5612 →186 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
מְדִינ֣וֹת[the] provinces of
medinotH4082 →53 times
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מְדִינָ֤הprovince
medinahH4082 →53 times
וּמְדִינָה֙and province
umedinahH4082 →53 times
כִּכְתָבָ֔הּaccording to writing its
kikhtavahH3791 →17 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
עַ֥םpeople
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
וָעָ֖םand people
vaamH5971 →1873 times
כִּלְשׁוֹנ֑וֹaccording to language its
kilshonoH3956 →117 times
לִהְי֤וֹתto be
lihyotH1961 →3559 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אִישׁ֙man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
שֹׂרֵ֣רruler
sorerH8323 →
בְּבֵית֔וֹin own household his
beveitoH1004 →2046 times
וּמְדַבֵּ֖רand speaking
umedaberH1696 →1141 times
כִּלְשׁ֥וֹןaccording to [the] language of
kilshonH3956 →117 times
עַמּֽוֹ׃ פpeople his
amoH5971 →1873 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Timothy 2:12I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; she is to remain quiet.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 14:34
Women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.
- 1 Corinthians 14:34
Through
Esther 8:9At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors,…
it leads to
- Esther 1:1
This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush.
- Esther 1:1
Through
Daniel 4:1King Nebuchadnezzar, To the people of every nation and language who dwell in all the earth: May your prosperity be multiplied.
it leads to
- Daniel 6:25
Then King Darius wrote to the people of every nation and language throughout the land: “May your prosperity abound.
- Daniel 3:4
Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “O people of every nation and language, this is what you are commanded:
- 1 Peter 1:2
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
- Ephesians 1:2
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
- 1 Chronicles 12:18
Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, and he said: “We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to…
- Daniel 6:25
Through
Esther 3:12On the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal scribes were summoned and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded the royal satraps, the governors of each province, and the officials of…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 21:8
Then Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.
- 1 Kings 21:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
About Esther
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. F. Adeney, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Expositor's Bible).