Esther 1:20

decree Heb. pithgam, a loan-word from Old Persian patigâma(patigam, to come to, arrive). It occurs in its Aramaic form (pithgâmâ) in Ezra 4:17; Ezra 5:7; Ezra 5:11.

kingdom The usual translation of the Heb. word. By rendering -empire" (here only in O.T.) the A.V. introduces a distinction which does not exist in the original.

for it is great In point of fact the Persian rule at this time extended over more than half of the known world. The LXX., however, do not appear to have found the words in their text.