Esther 4:3
New International Version
In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

New Living Translation
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.

English Standard Version
And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Berean Standard Bible
In every province to which the king’s command and edict came, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

King James Bible
And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

New King James Version
And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

New American Standard Bible
In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and mourning rites; and many had sackcloth and ashes spread out as a bed.

NASB 1995
In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

NASB 1977
And in each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now in each and every province where the word and law of the king reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many made their bed in sackcloth and ashes.

Amplified Bible
In each and every province that the decree and law of the king reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

Christian Standard Bible
There was great mourning among the Jewish people in every province where the king’s command and edict reached. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
There was great mourning among the Jewish people in every province where the king’s command and edict came. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

American Standard Version
And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And in every province, whenever the message of the King arrived, there was great grieving with the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and lamentations, and sackcloth, and ashes; it humbled a multitude.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And in every province where the letters were published, there was crying and lamentation and great mourning on the part of the Jews: they spread for themselves sackcloth and ashes.

Contemporary English Version
In every province where the king's orders were read, the Jews cried and mourned, and they went without eating. Many of them even put on sackcloth and sat in ashes.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And in all provinces, towns, and places, to which the king's cruel edict was come, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, wailing, and weeping, many using sackcloth and ashes for their bed.

English Revised Version
And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
In every province touched by the king's command and decree, the Jews went into mourning, fasting, weeping, and wailing. Many put on sackcloth and ashes.

Good News Translation
Throughout all the provinces, wherever the king's proclamation was made known, there was loud mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, wailed, and most of them put on sackcloth and lay in ashes.

International Standard Version
In every province where the order of the king and his edict reached, among the Jewish people there was great mourning, fasting, weeping, and lamenting, and many lay down on sackcloth and ashes.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Literal Standard Version
And in each and every province, the place where the word of the king, even his law, is coming, the Jews have a great mourning, and fasting, and weeping, and lamenting: sackcloth and ashes are spread for many.

Majority Standard Bible
In every province to which the king’s command and edict came, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

New American Bible
Likewise in each of the provinces, wherever the king’s decree and law reached, the Jews went into deep mourning, with fasting, weeping, and lament; most of them lay on sackcloth and ashes.

NET Bible
Throughout each and every province where the king's edict and law were announced there was considerable mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow. Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic of many.

New Revised Standard Version
In every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and most of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

New Heart English Bible
In every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Webster's Bible Translation
And in every province whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

World English Bible
In every province, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Young's Literal Translation
And in every province and province, the place where the word of the king, even his law, is coming, a great mourning have the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and lamenting: sackcloth and ashes are spread for many.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Mordecai Appeals to Esther
2But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering that gate. 3In every province to which the king’s command and edict came, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. 4When Esther’s maidens and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, the queen was overcome with distress. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.…

Cross References
Esther 4:2
But he went only as far as the king's gate, because the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering that gate.

Esther 4:4
When Esther's maidens and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, the queen was overcome with distress. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

Esther 4:16
"Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!"

Esther 9:31
in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.


Treasury of Scripture

And in every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

in every province.

Esther 1:1
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)

Esther 3:12
Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring.

great mourning.

1 Samuel 4:13,14
And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out…

1 Samuel 11:4
Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.

Isaiah 22:4,12
Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people…

weeping.

Matthew 13:42
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 22:13
Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25:30
And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Isaiah 58:5
Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?

Daniel 9:3
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

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Ashes Command Commandment Covered Crying Decree Dust Earth Edict Fasting Food Great Haircloth Jews Kingdom King's Law Lay Mourning Numbers Order Part Province Sackcloth Sorrow Spread Stretched Wailing Weeping Wherever Whithersoever Word
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Ashes Command Commandment Covered Crying Decree Dust Earth Edict Fasting Food Great Haircloth Jews Kingdom King's Law Lay Mourning Numbers Order Part Province Sackcloth Sorrow Spread Stretched Wailing Weeping Wherever Whithersoever Word
Esther 4
1. The great mourning of Mordecai and the Jews.
4. Esther, understanding it, sends to Mordecai,
7. who shows the cause, and advises her to undertake the suit.
10. She, excusing herself, is threatened by Mordecai.
15. She, appointing a fast, undertakes the suit.














Verse 3. - And in every province. As fast as the news spread, as province after province received the decree, the Jews spontaneously did as Mordecai had done - everywhere there was great sorrow, shown commonly by fasting, weeping, and wailing, while in numerous instances the mourners even went the length of putting on sackcloth and ashes. Thus an ever-increasing cloud of grief overshadowed the land. GRIEF OF ESTHER. HER COMMUNICATIONS WITH MORDECAI. SHE CONSENTS TO RISK MAKING AN APPEAL TO THE KING (Esther 4:4-17). Esther, in the seclusion of the harem, knew nothing of what the king and Haman had determined on. No one in the palace suspected how vitally she was concerned in the matter, since none knew that she was a Jewess, and state affairs are not commonly discussed between an Oriental monarch and a young wife. It was known, however, that she took an interest in Mordecai; and when that official was seen outside the palace gate in his mourning garb, it was reported to the queen. Not being aware why he grieved, but thinking that perhaps it was some light matter which he took too much to heart, she sent him a change of raiment, and requested him to put off his sackcloth. But Mordecai, without assigning any reason, refused (ver. 4). Esther upon this caused inquiry to be made of Mordecai concerning the reason of his mourning, and in this way became acquainted with what had happened (vers. 5-9). At the same time she found herself called on by Mordecai to incur a great danger, since he requested her to go at once to the king, and to intercede with him for her people (ver. 8). In reply, the queen pointed out the extreme risk which she would run in entering the royal presence uninvited, and the little chance that there was of her receiving a summons, since she had not had one for thirty days (ver. 11). Mordecai, however, was inexorable. He reminded Esther that she herself was threatened by the decree, and was not more likely to escape than any other Jew or Jewess; declared his belief that, if she withheld her aid, deliverance would arise from some other quarter; warned her that neglect of duty was apt to provoke a heavy retribution, and suggested that she might have been raised to her queenly dignity for the express purpose of her being thus able to save her nation (vers. 13, 14). The dutiful daughter, the true Jewess, could resist no longer; she only asked that Mordecai and the other Jews in Susa would fast for her three days, while she and her maidens also fasted, and then she would take her life in her hand, and enter the royal presence uninvited, though it was contrary to the law; the risk should be run, and then, as she said with a simple pathos never excelled, "if I perish, I perish" (ver. 16). Satisfied with this reply, Mordecai "went his way," and held the three days' fast which Esther had requested (ver. 17).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
In every
וּבְכָל־ (ū·ḇə·ḵāl)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

province
מְדִינָ֣ה (mə·ḏî·nāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4082: A judgeship, jurisdiction, a district, a region

to which
מְקוֹם֙ (mə·qō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4725: A standing, a spot, a condition

the king’s
הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ (ham·me·leḵ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king

command
דְּבַר־ (də·ḇar-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

and edict
וְדָתוֹ֙ (wə·ḏā·ṯōw)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 1881: A royal edict, statute

came,
מַגִּ֔יעַ (mag·gî·a‘)
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 5060: To touch, lay the hand upon, to reach, violently, to strike

there was great
גָּדוֹל֙ (gā·ḏō·wl)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent

mourning
אֵ֤בֶל (’ê·ḇel)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 60: Lamentation

among the Jews.
לַיְּהוּדִ֔ים (lay·yə·hū·ḏîm)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - proper - masculine plural
Strong's 3064: Jews -- Jewish

They fasted,
וְצ֥וֹם (wə·ṣō·wm)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6685: Fasting, a fast

wept,
וּבְכִ֖י (ū·ḇə·ḵî)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1065: A weeping, a dripping

and lamented,
וּמִסְפֵּ֑ד (ū·mis·pêḏ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4553: A lamentation

and many
לָֽרַבִּֽים׃ (lā·rab·bîm)
Preposition-l, Article | Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 7227: Much, many, great

lay
יֻצַּ֖ע (yuṣ·ṣa‘)
Verb - Hofal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3331: To strew as a, surface

in sackcloth
שַׂ֣ק (śaq)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8242: A mesh, coarse loose cloth, sacking, a bag

and ashes.
וָאֵ֔פֶר (wā·’ê·p̄er)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 665: Ashes


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OT History: Esther 4:3 In every province wherever the king's commandment (Est Esth. Es)
Esther 4:2
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