According to the law, &c.— There was a law in this monarchy, that no ordinance or edict, made with the necessary formalities, and with the consent of the king's counsellors, could be revoked: the king himself had no power in this case. Diodorus Siculus says, that Darius, the last king of Persia, would have pardoned Charidemus after he was condemned to death, but could not reverse the law which had passed against him. We may observe the difference of style here, and in Esther 1:19. Here the words are, the law of the Medes and Persians, out of regard to the king, who was a Mede; there it is styled, the law of the Persians and Medes, as the king at that time was a Persian. See Calmet and Lowth.

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