Esther 4:4

4 And the damsels, and the honest servants and chaste of Esther entered in (and the honest and chaste servants of Esther entered in), and told this thing to Esther; which thing she heard, and was astonished; and she sent a cloak to Mordecai, that when the sackcloth was taken away, he should clothe him(self) therein; the which cloak he would not take. (And Esther's young women, and the eunuchs, came in, and told her about this; and when she had heard about it, she was astonished, or shocked; and she sent some clothes to Mordecai, so that he would put away the sackcloth, and clothe himself in them; but he would not take the clothes.)

Esther 4:4 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 4:4

So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told it her,
&c.] Her maids of honour and eunuchs that attended her, which they might tell her merely as a piece of news, there being something shocking in it to tender minds; or perhaps nothing more than that Mordecai was in sackcloth; and they might have observed, by some incident or another, that there was some connection between Mordecai and Esther, and that she had a peculiar respect for him:

then was the queen exceedingly grieved;
even though she might not know the whole of the matter; but perceiving whatever it was it greatly affected Mordecai, with whom she sympathized:

and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth
from him;
that so he might appear at court, and she get better intelligence of the cause of all this:

but he received it not;
refusing to be comforted, or appear cheerful under such melancholy circumstances.

Esther 4:4 In-Context

2 and he went with this yelling unto the gates of the palace; for it was not leaveful (for) a man clothed with a sackcloth to enter into the hall of the king (for it was not lawful for someone clothed in sackcloth to enter into the king's hall).
3 Also in all provinces, cities, and places, to which the cruel sentence of the king was come, there was great wailing, fasting, and weeping, and yelling with the Jews, and many Jews used a sackcloth and ashes for their bed. (And in all the provinces, and cities, and places, to which the cruel sentence of the king had come, there was great wailing, and fasting, and weeping, and yelling from the Jews, and many Jews lay in sackcloth and ashes.)
4 And the damsels, and the honest servants and chaste of Esther entered in (and the honest and chaste servants of Esther entered in), and told this thing to Esther; which thing she heard, and was astonished; and she sent a cloak to Mordecai, that when the sackcloth was taken away, he should clothe him(self) therein; the which cloak he would not take. (And Esther's young women, and the eunuchs, came in, and told her about this; and when she had heard about it, she was astonished, or shocked; and she sent some clothes to Mordecai, so that he would put away the sackcloth, and clothe himself in them; but he would not take the clothes.)
5 And after that, Hatach, the honest servant and chaste (the honest and chaste servant), was called, whom the king had given (as) a minister to her, and she commanded, that he should go to Mordecai, and learn of him, why he did this thing. (And after that, the eunuch Hatach was called, whom the king had given to her for a servant, and Esther commanded that he go to Mordecai, and learn from him why he did this thing.)
6 And Hatach went forth, and he came to Mordecai standing in the street of the city, before the gate(s) of the palace;
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.