Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
It shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom. This mode of speaking originated in the Persian custom of appropriating for the maintenance of great men, or royal favourites, one city for his bread, another for his wine, a third for his clothes, etc., so that the phrase denoted great liberality.