Esther 4:15
in Esther 4Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then Esther bade them return answer unto Mordecai,
KJV
Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
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This verse in Esther 4
Commentary
5 notes on this verseShe believed that God's favour was to be obtained by prayer, that his people are a praying people, and he a prayer-hearing God. She knew it was the practice of good people, in extraordinary cases, to join fasting with prayer, and many of them to join together in both.
This site's exposition
return Mordecai this answer
on Esther 4:15-16
Esther's resolve is practical: gather all the Jews in Shushan, fast three days, night or day, I also and my maidens, the queen binding herself to the discipline she asks of others. Then the sentence verified as sole in Scripture: I will go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and IF I PERISH, I PERISH, lawful disobedience accepted with its full price, the shape of Shadrach's but-if-not at Dan 3:18, a likeness the older writers draw. The fast is communal, the risk is hers alone.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Mordecai prays with the Jews on behalf of Queen Esther, and the queen likewise prays for Mordecai and the Jews, because a teacher ought to offer prayers to the Lord on behalf of his students, and students on behalf of their teachers, that the entire …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not. Here we have an account of the general sorrow that there was among the Jews upon the publishing of Haman's bloody edict against them. It was a sad time with the church.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:26w-of-59
Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer. Which follows, and was sent by the messengers she sent the above to him.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Who knows whether, at this time next year, you will retain your royal position. [I.e.,] “And who knows whether the king will desire you next year, which is the time of the massacre.” 6 I.e., who knows whether you will be spared from the decree.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Even though it is unlawful. For it is contrary to the law for one who has not been summoned to enter.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֹּ֥אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶסְתֵּ֖ר | ʾester | Esther | H635 → | 55 times |
| לְהָשִׁ֥יב | lehashiv | to bring back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶֽל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מָרְדֳּכָֽי׃ | maredokhai | Mordecai | H4782 → | 60 times |
וַתֹּ֥אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
אֶסְתֵּ֖רEsther
ʾesterH635 →55 times
לְהָשִׁ֥יבto bring back
lehashivH7725 →1056 times
אֶֽל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מָרְדֳּכָֽי׃Mordecai
maredokhaiH4782 →60 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Esther
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPersian periodEstherHadassah, the orphan exile who became queen of Persia and, at the risk of "if I perish, I perish," stood between her people and Ha…
- PersonPersian periodMordecaiEsther's cousin and guardian at the gate of Susa, who refused to bow to Haman, uncovered the plot against the king, and was raised…
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Esther and W. F. Adeney, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Expositor's Bible).