Esther 8:9

9 At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan ^[a]), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush ^[b]—writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

Esther 8:9 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 8:9

Then were the king's scribes called at that time
As they were to write the former letter, ( Esther 3:12 ) ,

in the third month, that is the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth
day thereof;
which answers to part of May, and part of June. This was two months and ten days after the writing of the former letters; so long the Jews had been in distress by reason of them, and was a just rebuke upon them for not returning to their own land when they might, as well as for other sins:

and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the
Jews.
Mordecai dictated to the scribes, and ordered what they should write; and which were sent to the Jews in the first place, partly to ease them of their present distress, and partly that they might prepare against that time for their defence, for which they had sufficient time, it being now more than nine months to it:

and to the lieutenants, and the deputies, and the rulers of the
provinces, which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and
seven provinces.
The letters were directed to the same magistrates in the several provinces as the former, giving orders to them, that, notwithstanding them, they were to suffer the Jews to defend themselves, and not punish them for what should be done by them in self-defence; see ( Esther 1:1 ) ( 2:12 ) ,

unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every
people after their language, and to the Jews according to their
writing, and according to their language;
some provinces spoke the Persian language, and used the character of it, others Chaldee, others Syriac and wrote in the usual characters, as the Jews did in Hebrew, and in the characters of that language; and now these letters were written in the language and character of the people of the several provinces they were sent to, that they might be easily read and understood.

Esther 8:9 In-Context

7 So King Xerxes said to Esther the Queen and Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked the Jews.

8 Now you may write in the king’s name as you please regarding the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring. For a decree that is written in the name of the king and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.”

9 At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan ), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush —writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

10 Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed it with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers riding on swift horses bred from the royal mares.

11 By these letters the king permitted the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province hostile to them, including women and children, and to plunder their possessions.

Footnotes

• [a]. Sivan is the third month of the Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurring within the months of May and June.
• [b]. That is, to the upper Nile region