He sent letters: Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente supplies the implicit information that the decree was “translated,” that is, “The king had a decree prepared and sent it to every province, translated into the language of every people and written in the local script.” Translators may find this a helpful model in their own language.

All the royal provinces, that is, the 127 provinces (see 1.1).

Every province and every people: the Hebrew uses an idiom that is literally “to province and province … to people and people.” Many languages will have similar idioms that show that every province and people was included, one after the other, with none omitted.

In its own script … in its own language: in the vast Persian Empire, many languages were spoken. The main languages were various dialects of Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Aramaic, Phoenician, Egyptian, and Greek; and each of these languages had a different script. Letters and other written documents were sent in the various languages spoken in the Empire, using the script of each language, that is, the letters were written in the “way [or, manner]” of each language (see also 3.12; 8.9).

The intention of the king’s decree was that every man be lord in his own house. Although most versions use a noun, to be lord, “master” (Good News Translation), or “ruler” (New International Version), some languages may prefer to follow the pattern of the Hebrew, which uses a participle, “ruling,” from the verb “to rule, to be master.” House may be translated as “home” (Good News Translation), “foyer,” or “concession,” depending on cultural context, making it clear that the authority of the husband is not to be exercised merely within the walls of a house, but rather within the social unit which is the family.

The words speak according to the language of his people present a problem both of text and of interpretation. The three words that appear in the Hebrew are absent from the Septuagint. New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Nueva Biblia Española, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch follow the Greek text in omitting these words. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project considers the reading of the Septuagint to be a scribal change of the Hebrew text in an attempt to make sense of a difficult text. Of those translations that follow the Hebrew, some translate literally, as Revised Standard Version and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, while others such as Good News Translation translate the supposed meaning. Probably the sense is that a husband should speak his mother tongue in his home, and not the language of his foreign wife (see Neh 13.23-24). This may mean that he should show his authority over his wife by imposing his language in the home (Bible en français courant: “impose the use of his maternal language there”; so also Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). However, according to Revised English Bible, the sense is not that the husband should show his authority by imposing his mother tongue, but rather that “each man, whatever language he spoke, should be master in his own home.” The translations of Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, An American Translation, and Anchor Bible are based on a slight change in the Hebrew text: “should speak whatever seemed proper to him.” The New English Bible translation rests on yet a different alteration of the Hebrew text: “and control all his own womenfolk.”

Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rejects translations based on changes in the Hebrew text with no support by any manuscripts. The recommendation of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project is that the words “and speaking according to the language of his people” be understood, not as part of the content of the king’s decree, but rather as stating the manner in which the king’s command is to be carried out by those officials who deliver the decree. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives a “B” evaluation to the Hebrew text, indicating some doubt as to whether this is the correct text (compare Septuagint and footnote in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and Bible en français courant).

The diversity of interpretations and translations of these final three words makes it difficult to recommend any one of them, but either the solution followed by Bible en français courant or that proposed by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project seems preferable. The New International Version translation agrees with the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommendation: “He sent dispatches to all parts of his kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, proclaiming in each people’s tongue that every man should be ruler over his own household” (New International Version).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on Esther (The Hebrew Text). (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .