To Each People in Its Own Language

The Persian Empire in the Book of Esther was a multilingual one.

Esther 1:22 says:

He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, proclaiming in each people's tongue that every man should be ruler over his own household.

This was the age of the multilingual empire, when power was exerted not through a Persian-only strategy but through the effective implementation of a multilingual policy.

English-only advocates, take note.

Let's not overlook, though, that egalitarianism in one realm (language) was used in service of anti-egalitarianism in another (gender). In the wake of a showing by an assertive queen (Vashti), the message (to the multilingual men) was clear: you should be rulers in your households.