Esther 4:4

4 When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed. She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it.

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 He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning.

3 And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.

4 When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed. She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it.

5 Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant. She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning.

6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate.