Esther 8:8

8 Write ye also in my name, as it seems good to you, and seal with my ring: for whatever are written at the command of the king, and sealed with my ring, it is not lawful to gainsay them.

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 be able to look upon the affliction of my people, and how shall I be able to survive the destruction of my kindred?

7 And the king said to Esther, If I have given and freely granted thee all that was Aman's, and hanged him on a gallows, because he laid his hands upon the Jews, what dost thou yet further seek?

8 Write ye also in my name, as it seems good to you, and seal with my ring: for whatever are written at the command of the king, and sealed with my ring, it is not lawful to gainsay them.

9 So the scribes were called in the first-month, which is Nisan, on the three and twentieth day of the same year; and were written to the Jews, whatever commanded to the local governors and chiefs of the satraps, from India even to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven satraps, according to the several provinces, according to their dialects.

10 And they were written by order of the king, and sealed with his ring, and they sent the letters by the posts:

Footnotes

• [a]. possible