Esther 4:17

17 Therefore Mordecai went, and did all things, that Esther had commanded to him. (And so Mordecai went, and did everything, that Esther had bidden him to do.)

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 And again Esther sent these words to Mordecai, saying, (And Esther sent back an answer to Mordecai, saying,)

16 Go thou, and gather together all the Jews, which thou findest in Susa, and pray ye for me; eat ye not, that is, fast ye, neither drink ye, in three days and three nights, and I with mine handmaidens shall fast in like manner; and then I not called, shall enter in to the king, and I shall do against the law, and I shall betake me to death and to peril. (Go thou, and gather together all the Jews, whom thou findest in Susa, and pray ye for me; eat ye not, that is, fast ye, and drink ye not, for three days and three nights, and I shall fast with my servantesses in like manner; and then though I be not called, I shall go to the king, and I shall go against the law, and I shall deliver myself unto peril and even death.)

17 Therefore Mordecai went, and did all things, that Esther had commanded to him. (And so Mordecai went, and did everything, that Esther had bidden him to do.)