Esther 1:20

The edict the king issues will be heard throughout his vast kingdom—and so all women, from the least to the greatest, will honor their husbands.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Memucan addresses King Xerxes and his Persian princes during a royal council convened to address the queen’s public defiance. The words — The Hebrew פִּתְגָם (pitgam) denotes a formal royal decree, while נִשְׁמַע (nishma) indicates it will be widely heard and obeyed. The thread — This theme of wifely submission appears in Colossians 3:18, Ephesians 5:22, and Ephesians 5:33, though the New Testament texts explicitly command submission or respect rather than honor. Why it lands — The passage demands immediate, kingdom-wide compliance with a sovereign decree to preserve social order, requiring readers to recognize how authority structures function in both ancient governance and later biblical instruction.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְנִשְׁמַע֩ve./nish.Ma'and/ it will be heard פִּתְגָ֨םpit.Gam[the] decree of הַמֶּ֤לֶךְha./Me.lekhthe/ king אֲשֶֽׁר־'a.Sher-which יַעֲשֶׂה֙ya.'a.Sehhe will make בְּכָל־be./kholin/ all מַלְכוּת֔וֹmal.khu.T/okingdom/ his כִּ֥יkifor רַבָּ֖הra.Bah[is] great הִ֑יאHi'it וְכָל־ve./kholand/ all הַנָּשִׁ֗יםha./na.Shimthe/ women יִתְּנ֤וּyi.te.Nuthey will give יְקָר֙ye.Karhonor לְבַעְלֵיהֶ֔ןle./va'.lei./Hento/ husbands/ their לְמִגָּד֖וֹלle./mi./ga.Dol<to>/ from/ great וְעַד־ve./'ad-and/ unto קָטָֽן׃ka.Taninsignificant

King James Version

And when the king’s decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.

Cross-references

Colossians 3:18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
Ephesians 5:33 Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
1 Peter 3:1 Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives
Deuteronomy 17:13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will no longer behave arrogantly.
Deuteronomy 21:21 Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.