He also gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Susa to destroy them, to show it to Esther, and to declare it to her, and to urge her to go in to the king, to make supplication to him, and to make request before him, for her people.
Parallel Translations
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He also gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Susa to destroy them, to show it to Esther, and to declare it to her, and to urge her to go in to the king, to make supplication to him, and to make request before him, for her people.
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Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.
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Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Shushan to destroy them, to show it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her; and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him, for her people.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Esther 4:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ecclesiastes 10:4 If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you, don’t leave your place; for gentleness lays great offenses to rest.
- Job 9:15 Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn’t answer him. I would make supplication to my judge.
- Esther 2:20 Esther had not yet made known her relatives nor her people, as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther obeyed Mordecai, like she did when she was brought up by him.
- Esther 3:14-15 A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day. The couriers went out in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was perplexed.
- 1 Timothy 6:13 I command you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate testified the good confession,
- Nehemiah 2:3-5 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why shouldn’t my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?” Then the king said to me, “What is your request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may build it.”
- Esther 7:3-4 Then Esther the queen answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for male and female slaves, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king’s loss.”
- Esther 8:6 For how can I endure to see the evil that would come to my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my relatives?”
- Proverbs 16:14-15 The king’s wrath is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it. In the light of the king’s face is life. His favor is like a cloud of the spring rain.
- Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.
- Acts 12:20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus, the king’s personal aide, their friend, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food.
- 1 Timothy 6:17 Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be arrogant, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, contents.
Or, contents.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Est 4:8 Also he gave him the copy of…
Est 4:8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew [it] unto Esther, and to declare [it] unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.
Ver. 8. Also he gave him the copy of the writing] That she might see it, and rest assured that it was even so, and no otherwise; and that therefore now or never she must bestir herself for the labouring Church.
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That was given at Shushan] Which if ever it were full of judgment, and white as a lily (according to the name), is now stained with blood of innocents; if ever righteousness did lodge in it, yet now murderers, as Isa 1:21.
To show it unto Esther] That her eye might affect her heart, Lam 3:51, and her heart set all awork for her people; that is, herself, according to that, "Physician, heal thyself"; that is, thine own countrymen, Luk 4:23.
And to declare it unto her] In the cause, viz. his refusing to bow to Haman against his conscience (whereof it no whit repented him); and in the several circumstances laid forth in the liveliest colours, for her thorough information.
And to charge her that she should go in unto the king] Hoc perquam durum est, sed ita lex scripta est, This was extremely hard, but so the law was written, saith the civilian. This Mordecai knew would hardly be done; he, therefore, makes use of his ancient authority, and sets it on with greatest earnestness. So St Paul, "I charge you by the Lord," 1Th 5:27. And, again, "I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ," &c., 2Ti 4:1. So St Austin to his hearers, Per tremendum Dei iudicium vos adiuro, I require and charge you by that dreadful day of judgment, when that doom’s day book shall be opened, &c. It is a weakness to be hot in a cold matter, but it is a wickedness to be cold in a hot matter. He that is earnest in good, though he may carry some things indiscreetly, yet is he far better than a time server, and a cold friend to the truth; like as in falling forward is nothing so much danger as in falling backward. Eli was to blame with his - Do no more so, my sons. And so was Jehoshaphat with his - Let not the king say so. And the people in Ahab’s time, who, when they were pressed to express whom they were for, God or Baal? they answered not a word, 1Ki 18:21. And yet how many such cold friends hath the truth today! lukewarm Laodiceans, neuter passive Christians! &c. When Callidus once declared against Gallus with a faint and languishing voice, Oh, saith Cicero, Tu nisi fingeres, sic ageres? Wouldest thou plead on that manner if thou wert in good earnest? Men’s faint appearing for God’s cause shows they do but feign; their coldness probably concludeth they do but counterfeit. Mordecai plays the man, and chargeth Esther to improve her interest in the king, her husband, for the Church’s deliverance. See here how he turneth every stone, tradeth every talent, leaveth no means unused, no course unattempted for the saints’ safety. And this the Spirit of God hath purposely recorded, that all may learn to lay out themselves to the utmost for the public; to be most zealous for the conservation and defence of the Church when it is afflicted and opposed by persecutors; seeing they cannot be saved unless she be in safety; neither can they have God for their Father unless they love and observe this their dear mother. Utinam, iterum autem utinam diligentius a cunctis ordinibus haec hodie considerarentur, saith one. Oh that these things were duly considered by all sorts today!
To make supplication unto him] Heb. To deprecate displeasure and mischief, as 1Ki 8:28 Zec 12:10.
And to make request before him] Ad quaerendum a facie eius; so Pagnine from the Hebrew, to seek for good from his face, an effectul smile, a gracious aspect, that they may live in his sight. For, "in the light of the king’s countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain," Pro 16:15. The ancient Persian kings were most fond of their wives, doing them all the honour possible in court, as partakers of all their fortunes, and carried them and their children into their farthest wars; by the presence of so dear pledges, the more to encourage their minds in time of battle. Now, therefore, Esther (whom Herodotus also witnesseth to have been Xerxes’ best beloved) is to try what she can do with him for her people, who were haply grown too secure upon Esther’s preferment; as the French Churches also were upon the queen of Navarre’s greatness, and the promise of peace by that match. God, therefore, shortly after shook them up, not by shaking his rod only at them, as here at these Jews, but by permitting that bloody massacre.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain To charge her; not only in his own name,…
To charge her; not only in his own name, to whom she manifested a singular respect, though his relation to her was yet unknown, but also in the name of the great God.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Also he gave him the copy of the writing…
Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them,.... Which had now been published in the city; by which means Mordecai had had a sight of it, and had transcribed it; see Est 3:14
to show it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her; what Haman intended against the people of the Jews; as the Targum adds:
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and to charge her; in his name; whose charges she had always regarded, both before and since she was queen; or in the name of God:
that she should go in unto the king to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people; signifying there was a necessity of doing it speedily, and of urging her request with great earnestness and importunity, since it was not the life of a single person, but the lives of a body of people, and her own, that lay at stake.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. That she should go in unto the…
Verse 8. That she should go in unto the king] The Greek adds, "Remember the time of your low estate, and in what manner you have been nourished, and carried in my arms; and that Haman, who is next to the king, has got a decree for our destruction. Pray, therefore, to the Lord, and plead with the king, that we may be delivered from death." But there is not a word of this either in the Hebrew, Syriac, or Vulgate.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Entreat. Septuagint, "to put in a counter-petition, and entreat,"…
Entreat. Septuagint, "to put in a counter-petition, and entreat," &c. --- People. Septuagint add, "and country, remembering the days of thy lowly state, how thou wast fed by my hand; for Aman, the second after the king, has spoken against us, to have us destroyed. Call then upon the Lord, and speak to the king for us, and rescue us from death." (Haydock) --- This servant must have been very trusty, as the secret was confided to him, respecting the nation to which the queen belonged. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain charge her that she should go in unto the…
charge her that she should go in unto the king--This language is exceedingly strong. As it can scarcely be supposed that Mordecai was still using authority over Esther as his adopted daughter, he must be considered as imploring rather than commanding her, in the name of her brethren and in the name of her God, to make a direct appeal to the feelings of her royal husband.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Charge her… to make supplication — A perilous…
8. Charge her… to make supplication — A perilous undertaking to urge upon her. But Mordecai’s faith already began to discern a divine reason for her elevation in the kingdom at that time. See Est_4:14.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. to make request before him, for her people]…
8. to make request before him, for her people] See Est_2:10. It was now necessary for Esther to declare her nationality. It was only by identifying herself with the imperilled nation that their deliverance could be hoped for.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Also he gave him the copy. In the original…
Also he gave him the copy. In the original it is "a copy." Mordecai had had a copy made for the purpose of handing it to Esther. To make request to him for her people. If this was the phrase used by Mordecai to Hatach, Esther"s nationality must now have ceased to be a secret, at any rate so far as her immediate attendants were concerned. Probably Mordecai felt that the truth must now be declared. It was only as the compatriots of the queen that he could expect to get the Jews spared.
An intercessor.
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If Haman"s influence with the king of Persia was used for harm, why should not Esther"s be used for good? It was a natural and happy thought on the part of Mordecai to use his ward"s influence with Ahasuerus for the deliverance and safety of the Jews. And the sequel shows the wisdom of Mordecai"s counsel, and the efficacy of Esther"s pleading. Christ, our High Priest, is, as such, our Advocate with the Father. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. As a figure of our Redeemer, the Intercessor, consider Esther, as possessing two qualifications for successful advocacy.
I An intercessor should have SYMPATHY WITH, AND INTEREST IN, THE CASE OF THOSE FOR WHOM HE PLEADS. Esther had this qualification; she loved her cousin, she loved her people. She could not think of the destruction of the Jews without distress. She was prepared to plead hard for her people"s life. So with Christ. He is the Son of man, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities; for he was tried and tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. How fitted is he then to represent our case, to plead our cause! We have in God the Father a Sovereign waiting to be gracious, and in Christ the Son a Mediator and Advocate who will do his part to secure our salvation.
II An intercessor should have INFLUENCE WITH THE PERSON WHOSE FAVOUR IS TO BE SOUGHT. Esther had this qualification. The king loved her above his other wives, and would naturally be disposed to please her, and receive her requests with favour. So with Christ. He is the Son of God, the "beloved Son," in whom the Father is "well pleased." Him, therefore, the Father "heareth alway." His relation to the Father, his obedience and devotion, all entitle him to the Father"s confidence. And, as a matter of fact, he does not, cannot plead in vain. To have the advocacy of Christ is to have the favour of God. Gratefully avail yourselves of Christ"s prevailing intercession, and through him let your requests be made known unto God.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And to charge her that she should go in…
Est_4:8
And to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him.
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A resolute will
In the meantime, this lesson may be drawn from his conduct--that a resolute will, when it is exerted for the accomplishment of any purpose, is usually successful in the end. The triumphs of the Reformation, for example, in our own country and in other lands, where it did triumph, while they are really to be ascribed to the overruling providence of God, are instrumentally to be attributed to this, that God raised up and qualified for the work certain men of determined will and unflagging energy, who kept before them the great purpose which they sought to effect, and would be turned aside by no danger or difficulty from working it out. And I would remark, that in things spiritual--in things affecting the eternal salvation of man--resoluteness of will and indomitable energy are as indispensable as in the pursuit of temporal good. (A. B. Davidson, D. D.)
Human sympathy
How ardently Mordecai is coveting the sympathy of one whom his self-sacrifice elevated to a position above his own! Human sympathy, exhibited in practical ways, proves wondrous in power, multiplying joys and dividing sorrows. It is like sunshine upon rosebuds, unfolding hidden beauty and evoking new fragrance. Like May breezes upon consumptive cheeks, it brings back the glow of health where pallor of death has been, and paints cheerfulness where despondency has been brooding too long already. It is a contribution of the heart more priceless than the wealth of the Indies. It may be incapable of explaining the mysteries of providence; it may be disqualified for recommending resignation to the Divine will; possibly it may be powerless in affecting deliverance; but when genuine it possesses inestimable value, though it may not open avenues from Marah to the land of Beulah. (J. S. Van Dyke, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 4:8 A copy of the decree with the king’s…
4:8 A copy of the decree with the king’s seal would prove to Esther the seriousness of the situation. • to beg for mercy: Mordecai gave Esther no reasons to present to the king, only an appeal to the king’s mercy and Esther’s influence on him on behalf of her own people.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.