Esther 4:3-5
New English Translation
3 Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced[a] there was considerable[b] mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow.[c] Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic[d] of many. 4 When Esther’s female attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her about Mordecai’s behavior,[e] the queen was overcome with anguish. Although she sent garments for Mordecai to put on so that he could remove his sackcloth, he would not accept them. 5 So Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been placed at her service,[f] and instructed him to find out the cause and reason for Mordecai’s behavior.[g]
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- Esther 4:3 tn Heb “reached” (so NAB, NLT); KJV, NASB, NIV “came”; TEV “wherever the king’s proclamation was made known.”
- Esther 4:3 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the Jews went into deep mourning.”
- Esther 4:3 sn Although prayer is not specifically mentioned here, it is highly unlikely that appeals to God for help were not a part of this reaction to devastating news. As elsewhere in the book of Esther, the writer seems deliberately to keep religious actions in the background.
- Esther 4:3 tn Heb “were spread to many”; KJV, NIV “many (+ people NLT) lay in sackcloth and ashes.”
- Esther 4:4 tn The words “about Mordecai’s behavior” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in translation for the sake of clarity. Cf. NIV, NLT “about Mordecai”; TEV, CEV “what Mordecai was doing.”
- Esther 4:5 tn Heb “whom he caused to stand before her”; NASB “whom the king had appointed to attend her.”
- Esther 4:5 tn Heb “concerning Mordecai, to know what this was, and why this was.”
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