Esther 1:20 - Exposition

The king's decree . The "commandment" of the preceding verse is here given the formal name of pithgam, "decree," which is a Persian word, used also in Ezra ( Ezra 4:17 ; Ezra 5:7 , Ezra 5:11 ). For it is great . These words seem at first sight superfluous. Perhaps their force is this—Let a decree be made, and then, great as the empire is, the lesson will be taught to all: otherwise there will be many to whom it will never penetrate.