Esther 1:22

“For he sent letters unto all the king’s provinces, etc.] The one hundred and twenty seven provinces, (<170101>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…”

“He sent letters - The Persian system of posts incidentally noticed in the present book Esther 3:12-15; Esther 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…”

“1:22 The decree was published in each region in its own script and language so that the decree would be understood by every language group in the vast Persian Empire. • every man should be the ruler of his own home: It was already the cultural norm throughout the ancient Near East at that time that men ruled their houses. The decree added legal enforcement of the custom.”

“into every province: Est 3:12, Est 8:9; Dan 3:29, Dan 4:1 that every man: Both the law of God and common sense taught this from the foundation of the world; and this parade of enactment was only to deprive Vashti of her crown. Eph 5:22-24; Ti1 2:12; Tit 2:4, Tit 2:5 it should: etc. Heb. one should publish it according to the language of his country, Est 3:12 according: Luk 16:8; Act 2:5-11; Co1 14:19, Co1 14:20 Next: Esther Chapter 2”