Yǐsītièjì 4:16

16 Nǐ dāng qù zhāo jù Shūshān chéng suǒyǒude Yóudà rén , wèi wǒ jìnshí sān zhòu sān yè , bù chī bù hē . wǒ hé wǒde gōng nǚ yĕ yào zhèyàng jìnshí . ránhòu wǒ wéi lì jìn qù jiàn wáng , wǒ ruò sǐ jiù sǐ ba .

Yǐsītièjì 4:16 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 4:16

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan,
&c.] To acquaint them with what follows; but not to continue in a body together, which might cause suspicion of an ill design in them; according to the latter Targum, 12,000 chosen priests were found in it; but that must be an exaggeration of their number; it can hardly be thought there were so many Jews in all there:

and fast ye for me;
that is, pray for her, that she might have courage to go in to the king, and meet with success; for prayer was the principal thing, fasting only an accessory to it, and as fitting for it, and expressive of affliction and humiliation of soul:

and neither eat nor drink three days,
night nor day; it was to be a continued fast unto the third day; as Aben Ezra interprets it, they were not to eat at evening, but fast two whole days, and two whole nights, until the third day came, on which Esther went in to the king, ( Esther 5:1 ) .

I also and my maidens will fast likewise;
in the same manner and as long; these maids of honour were either proselytes, perhaps of her making, or Jewish ladies, she being allowed by the king to choose whom she pleased:

and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law;
or "afterwards", or "and then" ^F4 when they, and she and her maids, had fasted and prayed so long, then she was determined in the strength of the Lord to go into the king's presence with her petition, though it was contrary to law:

and if I perish, I perish;
signifying, that she readily and cheerfully risked her life for the good of her people; and if such was the pleasure of God, that she should lose it, she was content, and acquiesced in his will, leaving herself entirely in his hands, to dispose of her as he thought fit.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (Nkbw) "et postea", Noldius, p. 198. No. 899. so the Targum, (kai) (tote) , Sept. "et tune", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "tum", Tigurine version.

Yǐsītièjì 4:16 In-Context

14 Cǐ shí nǐ ruò bì kǒu bù yán , Yóudà rén bì cóng bié chù dé jiĕ tuō , méng zhĕngjiù , nǐ hé nǐ fù jiā , bì zhì mièwáng . yān zhī nǐ dé le wáng hòu de wèi fēn , bú shì wèi xiànjīn de jīhuì ma .

15 Yǐsītiĕ jiù fēnfu rén huí bào Mòdǐgǎi shuō ,

16 Nǐ dāng qù zhāo jù Shūshān chéng suǒyǒude Yóudà rén , wèi wǒ jìnshí sān zhòu sān yè , bù chī bù hē . wǒ hé wǒde gōng nǚ yĕ yào zhèyàng jìnshí . ránhòu wǒ wéi lì jìn qù jiàn wáng , wǒ ruò sǐ jiù sǐ ba .

17 Yúshì Mòdǐgǎi zhào Yǐsītiĕ yīqiè suǒ fēnfu de qù xíng .