Esther 4:17

17 Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Esther 4:17 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 4:17

So Mordecai went his way
About the business he was directed to; the word used having sometimes the signification of passing over or transgressing, Jarchi interprets it of Mordecai's transgressing the command, by fasting on a festival; the letter being written on the thirteenth of Nisan, ( Esther 3:12 ) , the next day was the passover, on which he supposes the fast began; and the three days were, the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth of the month, and belonged to the feast of the passover and of unleavened bread; so the Targum:

and did according to all that Esther had commanded him;
got the Jews together, and kept a fast three days; according to the Midrash ^F5 they were the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth of Nisan.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Midrash Esther, fol. 94. 4.

Esther 4:17 In-Context

15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,

16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish. ”

17 Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.