Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Esther 4:3

in Esther 4

In every province to which the king’s command and edict came, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

KJV

And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⋯

This verse in Esther 4

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Fasting, and weeping, and wailing - How astonishing, that in all this there is not the slightest intimation given of praying to God!

This site's exposition

When Mordecai learned of all

on Esther 4:1-3

Mordecai puts on "sackcloth and ashes" and goes "wailing loudly and bitterly," as far as the king's gate, because the law barred sackcloth there. The Hebrew of his great and bitter cry is the phrase used of Esau at Genesis 27:34, a likeness the commentators note.

This site's exposition

In every province to which the king’s

These were the Jews who had stayed in the provinces after Cyrus gave their people leave to return. Matthew Henry suggests some now regretted that choice. John Gill adds that many used sackcloth and ashes as their only bed through the night.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Rabanus Maurus

EXPLANATION ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER 7 · Written before 856.

proposed

When Mordecai heard about the destruction of the Jews which had been sanctioned with an imperial decree, he put on clothes for mourning and proceeded to the gates of the palace with bitterness in his soul and grief in his voice. In the same way, …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Those who for want of confidence in God, and affection to their own land, has staid in the land of their captivity, when Cyrus gave them liberty to be gone, now perhaps repented of their folly, and wished, when it was too late, that they had complied with the call of God. Esther the queen, upon a general intimation of the trouble Mordecai was in, was exceedingly grieved,
And in every province whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came,.... For destroying the Jews on such a day, in every place where they were to be found: there was great mourning among the Jews, and weeping, and wailing; which continued all day: and many lay in sackcloth and ashes: all night; made use of no other bed to lie on, nor clothes to cover them with.

The words behind it

19 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.

  • וּבְכָל־and in every

    uvekhol-H3605 →5413 times

  • מְדִינָ֣הprovince

    medinahH4082 →53 times

  • וּמְדִינָ֗הand province

    umedinahH4082 →53 times

  • מְקוֹם֙[the] place

    mekomH4725 →401 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֨ר<of> where

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • דְּבַר־[the] word of

    devar-H1697 →1440 times

  • הַמֶּ֤לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וְדָתוֹ֙and law his

    vedatoH1881 →22 times

  • מַגִּ֔יעַ[were] reaching

    magia'H5060 →150 times

  • אֵ֤בֶלmourning

    ʾevelH60 →

  • גָּדוֹל֙great

    gadolH1419 →526 times

  • לַיְּהוּדִ֔ים[belonged] to the Jews

    laiyehudimH3064 →75 times

  • וְצ֥וֹםand fasting

    vetzomH6685 →

  • וּבְכִ֖יand weeping

    uvekhiH1065 →

  • וּמִסְפֵּ֑דand wailing

    umispedH4553 →

  • שַׂ֣קsackcloth

    sakH8242 →49 times

  • וָאֵ֔פֶרand ash[es]

    vaeferH665 →

  • יֻצַּ֖עit was spread as a bed

    yutza'H3331 →

  • לָֽרַבִּֽים׃by <the> many [people]

    larabimH7227 →454 times

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

Related verses

17 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Isaiah 22:12On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.6 worksEsther 4:6So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the king’s gate,6 worksEsther 9:31in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.5 worksDaniel 9:3So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.4 worksEsther 4:16“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”3 worksIsaiah 22:4Therefore I said, “Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly! Do not try to console me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”3 works
The other 11 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 37:1–3On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.3 worksIsaiah 58:5Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD?3 worksEsther 3:12On the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal scribes were summoned and the order was written exactly as Haman commanded the royal satraps, the governors of each province, and the officials of each people, in the script of each province and the language of every people. It was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the royal signet ring.3 worksNehemiah 9:1On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.3 worksMatthew 22:13Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’2 worksMatthew 13:42And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.2 worksMatthew 25:30And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’2 works1 Samuel 4:13–14When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.2 worksEsther 4:1When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.2 worksEsther 1:1This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush.1 works1 Samuel 11:4When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud.1 works

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

    Daniel 9:3

    So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 33:3

      Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

    • Jeremiah 29:10–13

      For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.

    • James 5:16–18

      Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.

    • Nehemiah 1:4–11

      When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

  • Through

    Esther 4:16

    “Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast…

    it leads to

    • Acts 20:24

      But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good…

    • 2 Chronicles 20:3

      Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.

    • Joel 2:12–17

      “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”

    • Luke 9:24

      For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Rabanus Maurus, EXPLANATION ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER 7 and W. F. Adeney, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Expositor's Bible).

Read on in Esther 4 →