What Does Esther 9:20 Mean?
And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far,
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,THE KEY
The letters are released outward through *shalach*, carrying the message to both the near and the far.
THE MEANING
A message travels across distance so that people near and far remain within one shared account. The verse holds the whole scattered community in view; distance does not place anyone beyond its reach.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשְׁלַח
vayishlach
GROWS FROM
שׁלח
To send forth, release, or let go.
The verb means “and he sent,” from *shalach*: to send forth, release, or let go. The writing does not stay held in one place; it moves outward to both near and far, making its reach part of the verse’s meaning.
ALSO GROWS
shaliach: A messenger; one who is sent.
שָׁלִיחַ
The letters carry a message outward as a messenger would, extending its reach beyond the place where it was written.
Shiloach: Sent; also the name of the waters of Shiloah.
שִׁלֹחַ
The same sending-root appears in the name of waters associated with restored sight, joining what is sent forth with what reaches and restores.
סְפָרִים
sefarim
GROWS FROM
ספר
To count, record, or recount.
The Hebrew word *sefarim* means letters or documents and belongs to a root that also means counting and recounting. The message is fixed in a record that can travel and be told again across the provinces.
ALSO GROWS
sefer: A book, scroll, or record.
סֵפֶר
The letters are records that hold the message beyond the moment of its writing.
safar: To count or recount.
סָפַר
The root’s sense of recounting illuminates how a written message can preserve an account for people at a distance.
THE PATTERN
What is sent outward can reach distant people and carry release beyond the place where the sending begins.
Now go, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.And he came and brought good news of wholeness to you who were far off, and wholeness to those near.Then Jesus said to them again, Wholeness be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.THE THREAD
He sends his word and heals them, and slips them free from their pits.“Sent” in this verse comes from the same Hebrew root, שׁלח (*shalach*), meaning to send forth or release. Here the word sent reaches people in distress and brings healing; in Esther, the letters travel to the near and far, making the reach of what is sent central.
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