Esther 4:11

11 “All the royal officials and the people of the king’s provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the gold scepter may that person live. But I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the past thirty days.”

Esther 4:11 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 4:11

All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces
do know
Not only the princes and courtiers, but all the king's subjects, the meanest of them; there is scarce a person throughout the whole empire, to whom the following law is not known; this is said, to show how notorious it was:

that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into
the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put
him to death;
according to the former Targum, Human got this law to be made now, to prevent any application to the king about this affair; but then it would not have been so universally known as before declared; and it appears that there was such a law among the Medes, made by Dejoces, that none should go into the king's presence, but all should be done by messengers ^F2; and this was altered among the Persians, for the seven princes that slew Smerdis made an agreement, that whoever of them was chosen king, the rest should have the liberty of going unto him when they pleased, without a messenger to introduce them ^F3; it seems by this account it was death to go into the inner parlour, where the king usually was, without leave, or being called; this was made both for the king's safety, and for awe and reverence of his majesty, and to prevent any insinuations into him by ill-designing persons:

except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that
he may live;
which, whether he would or not, was very precarious; so that a person ran a great risk to go in uncalled:

but I have not been called to go in unto the king these thirty days;
which looked as if the king had not that fond affection for her he formerly had; and therefore there was greater danger in going in to him uncalled, and the less hope of success.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 Herodot. Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 99.
F3 Herodot. Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. 84.

Esther 4:11 In-Context

9 So Hathach went back and relayed Mordecai’s response to Esther.

10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and instructed him to tell Mordecai,

11 “All the royal officials and the people of the king’s provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the gold scepter may that person live. But I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the past thirty days.”

12 When Esther’s words were relayed to Mordecai,

13 he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews.