Esther 4:1

Mordecai Tells Esther of Haman’s Plot

1 Mordecai learned all that had been done and he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. And he went through the middle of the city and cried out a loud and bitter cry;

Esther 4:1 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 4:1

When Mordecai perceived all that was done
By the king, at the instigation of Haman, against the Jews; which he came to the knowledge of, either by some of the conflicts or by common fame, or on the sight of the edicts which were published in Shushan; though the Jews think it was made known to him in a supernatural way, either by Elijah, as the former Targum ^F24, or by the Holy Ghost, as the latter:

Mordecai rent his clothes:
both behind and before, according to the same Targum; and this was a custom used in mourning, not only with the Jews, but with the Persians also, as Herodotus ^F25 relates:

and put on sackcloth with ashes;
upon his head, as the former Targum; which was usual in mourning, even both; ( Job 2:12 ) ( Daniel 9:3 )

and went out into the midst of the city;
not Elam the province, as Aben Ezra, but the city Shushan:

and cried with a loud and bitter cry;
that all the Jews in the city might be alarmed by it, and inquire the reason of it, and be affected with it; and a clamorous mournful noise was used among the Persians, as well as others, on sad occasions ^F26.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 So Midrash Esther, fol. 94. 1.
F25 Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. ----. Urania, sive, l. 8. c. 99.
F26 Calliope, sive, l. 9. c. 24.

Esther 4:1 In-Context

1 Mordecai learned all that had been done and he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. And he went through the middle of the city and cried out a loud and bitter cry;

2 he went up to the entrance of the gate of the king, for he could not go to the gate of the king in sackcloth.

3 In every province [each] place where the king's edict and his law came, there [was] great mourning for the Jews with fasting, crying, wailing, [and] sackcloth; and ashes were spread out as a bed for them.

4 And Esther's maids and her eunuchs came and they told her, and the queen was deeply distressed; she sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he might remove his sackcloth--but he did not accept [them].

5 Then Esther called Hathach from the king's eunuchs {who regularly attended to her}, and she ordered him [to go] to Mordecai to learn what was happening and why.