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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Esther 4:1 - 4:1
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Mordochai learnt all that was done, - not only what had been openly proclaimed, but, as is shown by Est 4:7, also the transaction between the king and Haman. Then he rent his garments, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, making loud and bitter lamentation. Comp. on the last words, Gen 27:34. The combination of אֵפֶר with שַׂק יִלְבַּשׁ is an abbreviation for: put on a hairy garment and spread ashes upon his head, in sign of deep grief; comp. Dan 9:3; Job 2:12, and elsewhere.
Est 4:2
And came even before the king's gate, i.e., according to Est 4:6, the open space before the entrance to the royal palace; for none might enter wearing mourning. לָבֹוא אֵין, there is no entering, i.e., none may enter; comp. Ewald, §321, c.
Est 4:3
Also in every province whither the king's decree arrived, there arose a great mourning among the Jews. אֲשֶׁר מְקֹום is an adverbial accusat. loci in apposition to בְּכָל־מְדִינָה: in every place to which the word of the king and his decree reached, i.e., arrived. “Sackcloth and ashes were spread for many,” i.e., many sat in hairy garments upon the earth, where ashes had been spread; comp. Isa 58:5. The meaning is: All the Jews broke out into mourning, weeping, and lamentation, while many manifested their grief in the manner above described.