The Meaning of Esther 1:22 Explained

Esther 1:22

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.

YLT: and sendeth letters unto all provinces of the king, unto province and province according to its writing, and unto people and people according to its tongue, for every man being head in his own house -- and speaking according to the language of his people.

Darby: And he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people according to their language, That every man should bear rule in his own house, and should speak according to the language of his people.

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 Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Esther 1:22 Mean?

Context Summary

Esther 1:1-22 - Vashti's Noble Refusal
The book opens with a royal festival, which lasted for six months, Esther 1:1-9. Perhaps the princes came up from their governments to partake of it in rotation. It finished with a banquet, open to all the people who dwelt in Shushan, great and small. Whenever men are overcome with wine, there is grave peril for women. Coarseness, indelicacy, and impurity troop in at the door, which has been unlocked by the excess of wine. Who can tell the anguish which has been caused to women, children, and the dumb creation through the intemperance of man! Here is given a glimpse of a noble woman, who respected herself too highly to yield to a demand, wholly foreign to the customs of the time, which forbade women to appear in public. Of course the king was incensed, all the more so because he knew that he was in the wrong. He had command over 127 provinces, but he could not rule his own spirit, and the sense of moral weakness is always irritating. He consulted his counselors, who were only too glad to fall in with and humor the royal whims; they counseled that the divorce of Vashti was a public duty, for the repression of wife-insubordination throughout the empire. Men are not always to be trusted when they legislate about women, or in respect to their own dignity. When wine is in them they may be expected to say and do very stupid things. It has been truly said that every Ahasuerus had his Memucan, a man who was sycophant and parasite, who held his influence by humoring caprice and lust. [source]

Chapter Summary: Esther 1

1  Xerxes makes royal feasts
10  Vashti, sent for, refuses to come
13  Xerxes, by the counsel of Memucan, puts away Vashti, and decrees men's sovereignty

What do the individual words in Esther 1:22 mean?

and he sent letters to all provinces of the king to each and each province in its own script and to people and every people in their own language that should be each man master in his own house and speak in the language of his own people -
וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח סְפָרִים֙ אֶל־ כָּל־ מְדִינ֣וֹת הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ מְדִינָ֤ה וּמְדִינָה֙ כִּכְתָבָ֔הּ וְאֶל־ עַ֥ם וָעָ֖ם כִּלְשׁוֹנ֑וֹ לִהְי֤וֹת כָּל־ אִישׁ֙ שֹׂרֵ֣ר בְּבֵית֔וֹ וּמְדַבֵּ֖ר כִּלְשׁ֥וֹן עַמּֽוֹ פ

וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח  and  he  sent 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁלַח  
Sense: to send, send away, let go, stretch out.
סְפָרִים֙  letters 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: סֵפֶר 
Sense: book.
מְדִינ֣וֹת  provinces 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: מְדִינָה  
Sense: province, district.
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ  of  the  king 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
מְדִינָ֤ה  to  each 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: מְדִינָה  
Sense: province, district.
וּמְדִינָה֙  and  each  province 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular
Root: מְדִינָה  
Sense: province, district.
כִּכְתָבָ֔הּ  in  its  own  script 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: כְּתָב  
Sense: a writing, document, edict.
וְאֶל־  and  to 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
עַ֥ם  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
וָעָ֖ם  and  every  people 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
כִּלְשׁוֹנ֑וֹ  in  their  own  language 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, common singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: לָשֹׁון  
Sense: tongue.
לִהְי֤וֹת  that  should  be 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
כָּל־  each 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
אִישׁ֙  man 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
שֹׂרֵ֣ר  master 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: שָׂרַר  
Sense: to be or act as prince, rule, contend, have power, prevail over, reign, govern.
בְּבֵית֔וֹ  in  his  own  house 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
וּמְדַבֵּ֖ר  and  speak 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine singular
Root: דָּבַר 
Sense: to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing.
כִּלְשׁ֥וֹן  in  the  language 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, common singular construct
Root: לָשֹׁון  
Sense: tongue.
עַמּֽוֹ  of  his  own  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation