Esther 4:3

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
province	מְדִינָ֣ה me.di.Nah	H4082	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
whithersoever	מְקוֹם֙ me.kOm	H4725	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
king’s	הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ ha.Me.lekh	H4428	a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
commandment	דְּבַר de.var-	H1697	a word · noun, common masculine singular construct
decree	וְדָתוֹ֙ ve.da.To	H1881	a royal edict or statute · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
came	מַגִּ֔יעַ ma.Gi.a'	H5060	properly · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
great	גָּדוֹל֙ ga.dOl	H1419	great (in any sense) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
mourning	אֵ֤בֶל 'E.vel	H60	lamentation · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Jews	לַיְּהוּדִ֔ים lai.ye.hu.Dim	H3064	a Jehudite (i.e. Judaite or Jew) · preposition with the article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
fasting	וְצ֥וֹם ve.Tzom	H6685	a fast · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
weeping	וּבְכִ֖י u.ve.Khi	H1065	a weeping · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
wailing	וּמִסְפֵּ֑ד u.mis.Ped	H4553	a lamentation · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
many	לָֽרַבִּֽים La.ra.Bim	H7227	abundant (in quantity · preposition with the article + adjective, masculine plural absolute
lay	יֻצַּ֖ע yu.Tza'	H3331	to strew as a surface · verb, hophal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sackcloth	שַׂ֣ק sak	H8242	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
ashes	וָאֵ֔פֶר va.'E.fer	H665	ashes · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Isaiah 22:12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
Daniel 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Esther 3:12 Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commande…
Esther 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also…
Isaiah 22:4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.
Isaiah 37:1-3 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of t…
Isaiah 58:5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth…
1 Samuel 4:13-14 And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Esther 4:1-4

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. 1. Mordecai cried bitterly, rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth, Est 4:1, Est 4:2. He not only thus vented his grief, but proclaimed it, that all might take notice of it that he was not ashamed to own himself a friend to the Jews, and a fellow-sufferer with them, their brother and companion in tribulation, how despicable and how odious soever they were now represented by Haman's faction. It was nobly done thus publicly to espouse what he knew to be a righteous cause, and the cause of God, even when it seemed a desperate an…

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Adam Clarke on Esther 4:3

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

John Gill on Esther 4:3

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.

Keil & Delitzsch on Esther 4:1-3

Mordochai learnt all that was done, - not only what had been openly proclaimed, but, as is shown by Est 4:7, also the transaction between the king and Haman. Then he rent his garments, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, making loud and bitter lamentation. Comp. on the last words, Gen 27:34. The combination of אפר with שׂק ילבּשׁ is an abbreviation for: put on a hairy garment and spread ashes upon his head, in sign of deep grief; comp. Dan 9:3; Job 2:12, and elsewhere. Est 4:2 And came even before the king's gate, i.e., according to Est 4:6, the open space before the entrance to the royal palace; for none might enter wearing mourning. לבוא אין, there is no en…

Dictionary and topics

Ashes — The ashes of a red heifer burned entire (Num. 19:5) when sprinkled on the unclean made them ceremonially clean (Heb. 9:13). To cover the head with ashes was a token of self-abhorrence and humiliation…
Ashes · A symbol of mourning — A symbol of mourning
Fasting · National Exemplified: Israel — National Exemplified: Israel
Judgments · Should lead to: Contrition — Should lead to: Contrition
Readings, Select · ESTHER’ S TRIUMPH — ESTHER’ S TRIUMPH

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Esther 4:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Esther 4:1-4

Adam Clarke on Esther 4:3

John Gill on Esther 4:3

Keil & Delitzsch on Esther 4:1-3

Dictionary and topics

Esther 4:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Esther 4:1-4

Adam Clarke on Esther 4:3

John Gill on Esther 4:3

Keil & Delitzsch on Esther 4:1-3

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Esther 4:3

Rashi on Esther 4:3