Esther 8:8

8 Write ye then for the Jews as seems good to you, in the king's name, and seal [it] with the king's ring. For a writing that is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, cannot be reversed.

Esther 8:8 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 8:8

Write ye also for the Jews as it liketh you
Whatever may be thought fit and proper for their safety and security:

in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring;
as the former letters were:

for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with
the king's ring, may no man reverse;
which is a reason both for the writing and sealing of the present letters in this manner, and why the former could not be reversed; nor does it appear that they were, but that, in virtue of them, the people had power to rise and kill the Jews on the day appointed, if they dared, or were so disposed; and these empowered the Jews to rise in their own defence, and kill all that made any attempts upon them, for which they had the royal authority; and these letters coming after the other, though they did not formally reverse them, which might not be done, yet rendered them ineffectual.

Esther 8:8 In-Context

6 For how shall I endure to see the evil that shall befall my people? and how shall I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

7 And king Ahasuerus said to queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he stretched forth his hand against the Jews.

8 Write ye then for the Jews as seems good to you, in the king's name, and seal [it] with the king's ring. For a writing that is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, cannot be reversed.

9 Then were the king's scribes called at that time, in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth [day] thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors, and the princes of the provinces which are from India even to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people according to their language, and to the Jews according to their writing and according to their language.

10 And he wrote in the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed [it] with the king's ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback riding on coursers, horses of blood reared in the breeding studs: