Esther 4 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Esther 4

Esther Agrees to Help the Jews

4:1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. 2 He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth. 3 And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

4 When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was. 6 Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate, 7 and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. 8 Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction,¹ that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him² on behalf of her people. 9 And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”

12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”³ 17 Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Footnotes

[1] 4:8 Or annihilation
[2] 4:8 Hebrew and seek from before his face
[3] 4:16 Hebrew if I am destroyed, then I will be destroyed

Commentary

v1-3: There was great sorrow amongst the Jews.

Mordecai did not break the command about approaching the palace in sackcloth; however, he did refuse to bow before Haman. Thus, a distinction is made between breaking God's command, bowing before a man, and issues of culture.

v4-5: Like Rachel weeping for her children, Mordecai refused to be comforted. Apparently, Esther, within the palace, had not heard about the king's decree.

v6-8: Mordecai sent back the message to Esther, explaining the decree. He also asked that she approach the king, to intercede for her people.

v9-11: The absolute power of the monarch, before whom no man or woman had any rights.

The fact that Esther had been kept out of the King's presence for thirty days indicates his unpredictability. This was mixed with his ultimate power over a huge empire and its inhabitants.

Since the time of the Assyrian empire, a single man had had great power over large areas of the Middle East. Whilst the Assyrians and Babylonians had been cruel, the Medes and Persians, although less cruel, still maintained a great power, see Dan 6.15.

v12-14: Mordecai's response; Esther would not be spared destruction. He was confident that "relief and deliverance" would arise for the Jewish people. Yet Esther had been raised up for just this situation. Relief and deliverance was guaranteed because God had made promises to Abraham (Gen 12.1-3) concerning the nation of Israel. Mordecai knew these promises.

v15-17: Esther's sacrifice, taking the risk of going into the king. She had not been allowed in his presence for a month, yet she risked her own life, "I will go to the king". She could give nothing more than her life. Her life was like a drink offering, Phil 2.7; 2 Tim 4.6.

The sadness is that no one could have confidence in the king's mercy. Our confidence is that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is full of mercy.

Notice that there was clearly an identifiable community of Jews in Susa who would stand together. Indeed, had Haman's scheme been successful, they would have died together.