^1:22He sent letters throughout all the royal provinces, to each province according to its own script and to each people according to its own language,⁴⁴ that every man should be ruling his family⁴⁵ and should be speaking the language of his own people.⁴⁶

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Footnotes

44 For purposes of diplomacy and governmental communication throughout the far-flung regions of the Persian empire the Aramaic language was normally used. Educated people throughout the kingdom could be expected to have competence in this language. But in the situation described in v. 22 a variety of local languages are to be used, and not just Aramaic, so as to make the king’s edict understandable to the largest possible number of people.
45 Heb “in his house”; “over his own household.”
46 The final prepositional phrase is not included in the , and this shorter reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., , , ). Some scholars suggest the phrase may be the result of dittography from the earlier phrase “to each people according to its language,” but this is not a necessary conclusion. The edict was apparently intended to reassert male prerogative with regard to two things (and not just one): sovereign and unquestioned leadership within the family unit, and the right of deciding which language was to be used in the home when a bilingual situation existed.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

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.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

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.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

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.

NLTNew Living Translation

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.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And he sent letters to all the provinces of the king, to each province according to its own script, and to every people in their own language, that every man should be the master of his house and who speaks in the language of his people.

KJV 1900King James Version

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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