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Esther 4:13

in Esther 4

he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then Mordecai bade them return answer unto Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.

KJV

Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.

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This verse in Esther 4

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Think not - that thou shalt escape - This confirms the suspicion that Haman knew something of the relationship between Mordecai and Esther; and therefore he gives her to understand that, although in the king’s palace, she should no more escape than the Jews.

This site's exposition

he sent back to her

on Esther 4:13-14

Mordecai answers that relief "will arise from another place" if she stays silent. He ends, "who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Most of the older commentators, with the Targums, read another place as a veiled reference to God.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

THE appeal of Mordecai in his pressing time of distress was to one single person, namely, to Esther. I believe that I shall do better this morning by making my sermon an address to individuals than by speaking of nations or Churches. I assuredly believe that England has been raised up as a nation and brought to her present unique position that she may be the means of spreading the Gospel throughout all the nations of the earth.
THE appeal of Mordecai in his pressing time of distress was to one single person, namely, to Esther. I believe that I shall do better this morning by making my sermon an address to individuals than by speaking of nations or Churches. I assuredly believe that England has been raised up as a nation and brought to her present unique position that she may be the means of spreading the Gospel throughout all the nations of the earth. I judge that God has blessed the two great nations of the Anglo-Saxon race—England and the United States—and given them pre-eminence in commerce and in liberty on purpose, that in such a time as this they may spread abroad the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Woe to these nations if they fail to fulfill their solemn obligations! If, being raised up for a purpose, they refuse to perform it, they shall melt away. If, being armed and carrying bows, they turn back in the day of battle, both empires will perish as surely as did the power of Macedon and the dominion of Rome. We ought to be very careful as a people to act upon the rule of righteousness and the principles of peace, for any other conduct is inconsistent with our high calling. We are entrusted with great opportunities—if we do not rightly use them, the New Zealander of Macaulay may yet survey the ruins of this empire city. "You and your father's house shall be destroyed," said Mordecai to Esther, and he says the same to us! Oh, that England may know the day of her visitation! We might properly say of any Christian Church that it has its own appointed place in the purposes of Divine Mercy. If the candle is lit, even though it is set upon a golden candlestick, it is not lit for itself, but that it may give light to all that are in the house.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

You had better not fantasize. [I.e.,] “Do not think,” as in, “And it will be, that which I had thought.” 4 Bamidbar:56.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Esther 4:13:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
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.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Esther 4:14:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001

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

13 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • מָרְדֳּכַ֖יMordecai

    maredokhaiH4782 →60 times

  • לְהָשִׁ֣יבto bring back

    lehashivH7725 →1056 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אֶסְתֵּ֑רEsther

    ʾesterH635 →55 times

  • אַל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תְּדַמִּ֣יyou imagine

    tedamiH1819 →

  • בְנַפְשֵׁ֔ךְin self your

    venafshekhH5315 →754 times

  • לְהִמָּלֵ֥טto escape

    lehimaletH4422 →

  • בֵּית־[the] house of

    beit-H1004 →2046 times

  • הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • מִכָּל־from all

    mikolH3605 →5413 times

  • הַיְּהוּדִֽים׃the Jews

    haiyehudimH3064 →75 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Hebrews 12:3

    Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 6:9

      Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

    • 2 Corinthians 4:16

      Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.

    • Revelation 2:3

      Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name.

  • Through

    John 12:25

    Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 10:39

      Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

    • Luke 9:23–24

      Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

    • Mark 8:35

      For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.

    • Luke 17:33

      Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.

    • Matthew 16:25

      For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Where this verse is studied

About Esther

Esther Before the King, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Esther Before the King, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Esther: the study guide →Read Esther 4 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1777: “Esther's Exaltation—or, Who Knows?” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Esther 4 →