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1–3. The Tribulation of Mordecai and the Jews. 4–14. Notifying Esther and demanding her intercession with the king. 15–17. 3rd addition to the book: Mordecai’s appeal to Esther (con. verse 8). Three-day Jewish fast. 4th addition to the book: prayers of Mordecai and Esther. Esther 4:1. When Mordecai learned everything that was happening, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city and cried out with a great and bitter cry: [an innocent people are being destroyed!] Thanks to his proximity to the court, Mordecai, sooner than others, recognized and understood the full horror of what was being prepared, and - even if the purpose of the general mobilization that worried everyone was still hidden to others, he already knew everything. The original does not cite what Mordecai exclaimed in his grief, having such a pitiful, repentant mourning appearance - in sackcloth and ashes. This is not difficult for the reader to imagine. The words given in brackets represent borrowings from the Greek text. Esther 4:2. And he reached the royal gate [and stopped] because it was forbidden to enter the royal gate wearing sackcloth [and ashes]. The words in brackets are borrowed from the Greek text. Esther 4:3. Likewise, in every region and place where the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and crying; sackcloth and ashes served as a bed for many. “Sackcloth and ashes served as a bed” - others translate more accurately: “many dressed in sackcloth and ashes.” Esther 4:4. And Esther's maids and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was greatly alarmed. And she sent clothes for Mordecai to put on and take off his sackcloth. But he didn't accept. Esther 4:5. Then Esther called Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, whom he had assigned to her, and sent him to Mordecai to find out: what is this and why is it? Esther, obviously, remained completely unaware of what brought Mordecai to the palace gates in such a sad manner. This shows both Mordecai’s ability to quickly enter into the “course of affairs” taking place at court and the silence and mystery in which this bloodthirsty and monstrous enterprise of Haman was born. Mordecai’s refusal to accept clothes to replace sackcloth served as a sign for Esther of the strongest lamentation, which could not be interrupted for a minute due to the strongest grief. This prompts Esther to use another way to find out the cause of his grief - by sending a special eunuch, perhaps also from the Jews, to question Mordecai in detail. Esther 4:8. and handed him a copy of the decree promulgated in Susa about their extermination, in order to show Esther and let her know about everything; Moreover, he ordered her to go to the king and beg him for mercy and ask him for her people, [remembering the days of her humility when she was raised under my hand, because Haman, the second king, condemned us to death, and to call on the Lord and tell the king about us, that he might deliver us from death]. Mordecai gives Esther's messenger the decree of Haman itself - new proof of Esther's complete ignorance of this. The words in parentheses convey the details of the Greek text (3rd addition), where Mordecai’s address to Esther is expressed directly (1st and 2nd person forms, which the translation partially only preserved in the expressions “mine”, “us”, etc.). Esther 4:11. all those serving under the king and the peoples in the royal regions know that everyone, both man and woman, who enters the king’s inner court without being invited, will face one judgment - death; only the one to whom the king extends his golden scepter will remain alive. And I haven’t been invited to the king for thirty days now. Some variations, instead of “thirty” days, indicate three days of Esther’s non-invitation to the king. Both may have their greater or lesser probability. Esther 4:14. If you remain silent at this time, then freedom and deliverance will come for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows, is it not for such a time that you achieved royal dignity? All researchers pay attention to the fact that the Hebrew original of the book does not mention the name of God anywhere, and seems to even deliberately try to avoid this. So, in this place, despite all the naturalness and even the need to mention God, the book disguises it with vague expressions (“another place”), and, perhaps, even here it does not directly mean Him. To explain this strange phenomenon, it is believed that the author of the book probably borrowed his narrative from some Persian court chronicle, which he, indeed, points to at the conclusion of his work (Esther 10.2), and that only then - from the Jewish, perhaps. Mordecai's hand - this incident was somewhat painted on and adapted to Jewish-religious ideas. Esther 4:16. go, gather all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for my sake, and do not eat or drink for three days, neither day nor night, and I and my maidens will also fast and then I will go to the king, although this is against the law, and if I perish, I will perish. “Fast for my sake,” i.e. for the success of the work for which Esther selflessly prepared. Esther 4:17. And Mordecai went and did as Esther commanded him. “The Prayers of Mordecai and Esther” (Appendix 4) represent a rhetorical expression of their mood in such tragic moments, similar to those speeches that Greek writers so love to put into the mouths of the depicted heroes, sometimes achieving amazing perfection in this art. The general idea of ​​​​prayer is deliverance from a terrible danger, and Esther, more specifically, prays first of all for the success of her daring intention - to appear to the king without his call - contrary to the law. A characteristic feature of Mordecai’s prayer, in contrast to Esther’s, is the justification of his opposition to Haman, which served as the closest reason for the real misfortune and, as it were, made Mordecai responsible for everything. Esther.4_17ä) [And he prayed to the Lord, remembering all the works of the Lord, and said: Esther 4_17b Lord, Lord, King, Almighty! Everything is in Your power, and there is no one who opposes You when You want to save Israel; Esther.4_17d You created the heavens and the earth and all the wonders in the heavenly places; You are the Lord of all, and there is no one who would oppose You, the Lord. Esther 4_17ë) You know everything; You know, Lord, that I did not do this out of pride and not out of vanity, that I did not worship the vain Haman, for I would willingly kiss the footprints of his feet for the salvation of Israel; Esther 4_17f But I did this in order not to give glory to man above the glory of God and not to worship anyone except You, my Lord, and I will not do this out of pride. “And I will not do this out of pride” - a repetition of what Mordecai said above, that out of pride alone (without other more important motives) he would not have so persistently refused to worship Haman, which led to such danger for the entire people. Esther 4_17g And now, Lord God, King, God of Abraham, have mercy on Your people; for they plot our destruction and want to destroy Your original inheritance; Esther 4_17h Do not despise Your inheritance, which You rescued for Yourself from the land of Egypt; Esther 4_17ï) hear my prayer and have mercy on Your inheritance and turn our lamentation into joy, so that while we live we may sing Your name, O Lord, and do not destroy the lips that glorify You, O Lord. “So that we, while living (ζῶντες), - i.e. remaining alive, contrary to Haman’s plan, they sang Your name.” Esther 4_17j And all Israel cried out with all their strength, because their death was before their eyes. Esther.4_17k And Queen Esther ran to the Lord, overwhelmed with mortal grief, and, taking off the garments of her glory, put on garments of sorrow and lamentation, and, instead of costly ointments, sprinkled ashes and dust on her head, and greatly exhausted her body, and covered every place that was adorned in her joy with her flowing hair, and prayed to the Lord God of Israel, saying: “Having taken off the garments of his glory,” i.e. royal clothes. Esther 4_17l My Lord! You alone are our King; help me, alone and having no helper but You; for my trouble is near me. Esther 4_17m I heard, O Lord, from my father in my own tribe, that You, O Lord, chose for yourself Israel from all nations and our fathers from all their ancestors for an everlasting inheritance, and did for them what you spoke to them. Esther 4_17n And now we have sinned against You, and You delivered us into the hands of our enemies because we glorified their gods: You are righteous, O Lord! Esther 4_17o) And now they are not content with our bitter slavery, but have put their hands in the hands of their idols, to overthrow the commandment of Your mouth, and to destroy Your inheritance, and to stop the lips of those who sing Your praises, and to extinguish the glory of Your church and Your altar, “They have laid their hands in the hands of their idols,” i.e. They completely surrendered themselves to the power of their idols, gave themselves up to idolatry and desecration of the One True God. Esther 4_17p and open the mouths of the nations to glorify vain gods, and the king of the flesh may be magnified forever. “To the king of the flesh,” i.e. human, Persian, as opposed to the King of Heaven God. Esther 4_17q Do not, O Lord, hand over Your scepter to the non-existent gods, and let them not rejoice at our fall, but turn their plans towards themselves: and bring the accuser against us to shame. “The slanderer is against us,” i.e. Amana, put him to shame." Esther.4_17r Remember, Lord, reveal yourself to us during our sorrow and give me courage. King of the gods and Lord of all authorities! “King of the gods” - God of the Gods (ὁ θεὸς τῶν θεόν, Ps 85.8) - gods, not in the sense of living beings, but in the sense of τῶν μ´ ὤντων, as they are designated above ("do not betray... Your scepter" - τοῖς μὴ οὖσι ). Esther 4_17s grant to my mouth a word favorable to this lion and fill his heart with hatred towards him who persecutes us, to the destruction of him and his like-minded people; “Before this lion” – i.e. king of Persia. The lion is a symbol of strength and menacingness, fearfulness. “By hatred of him who persecutes us,” i.e. Haman. Esther 4_17t Deliver us by Thy hand and help me, who am alone and have no helper but You, Lord. Esther.4_17ü) You have knowledge of all things and know that I hate the glory of the wicked and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised and every foreigner; Esther.4_17w You know my necessity, that I abhor the sign of my pride, which is on my head in the days of my appearance, I abhor it as a garment defiled by blood, and do not wear it in the days of my solitude. “The sign of my pride... on my head,” i.e. royal diadem, - in the days of my appearance,” i.e. either before the king or in general on solemn occasions that require it. Esther 4_17x And Your servant did not partake of the table of Haman, and did not treasure the king’s feast, and did not drink the wine sacrificed to idols, Esther 4_17y and Thy handmaid has not rejoiced since the day of my change of fortune until now, except in Thee, O Lord God of Abraham. Esther.4_17z God, who has power over all! hear the voice of the hopeless, and save us from the hand of those who plot evil, and deliver me from my fear.] You might be interested in: