Esther 4:2

2 He came only as far as the King's Gate, for no one dressed in sackcloth was allowed to enter the King's Gate.

Esther 4:2 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 4:2

And came even before the king's gate
Or court, that Esther might if possible be made acquainted with this dreadful calamity coming upon her people:

for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth:
or appear in such a dress at court, where nothing was admitted to damp the pleasures of it.

Esther 4:2 In-Context

1 When Mordecai learned what had been done, he ripped his clothes to shreds and put on sackcloth and ashes. Then he went out in the streets of the city crying out in loud and bitter cries.

2 He came only as far as the King's Gate, for no one dressed in sackcloth was allowed to enter the King's Gate.

3 As the king's order was posted in every province, there was loud lament among the Jews - fasting, weeping, wailing. And most of them stretched out on sackcloth and ashes.

4 Esther's maids and eunuchs came and told her. The queen was stunned. She sent fresh clothes to Mordecai so he could take off his sackcloth but he wouldn't accept them.

5 Esther called for Hathach, one of the royal eunuchs whom the king had assigned to wait on her, and told him to go to Mordecai and get the full story of what was happening.