Esther 4:3

And in every province, whithersoever the Devar HaMelech and his dat (decree) came, there was evel gadol (great mourning) among the Yehudim, and a tzom, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

Orthodox Jewish Bible

In The King James 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.

In Context

2And came even before the Sha'ar HaMelech; for none might enter into the Sha'ar HaMelech clothed with sackcloth.

4So Esterʼs na'arot and her sarisim came and told it her. Then was HaMalkah exceedingly distressed; and she sent begadim (raiment) to clothe Mordechai, and to take away his sackcloth from him, but he received it not. + 4:4 See Am 6:6

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Cross References

1 Samuel 4:13And when he arrived, hinei, Eli sat upon a kisse by the side of the derech, watching; for his lev anxiously trembled for the Aron HaElohim. And when the ish came into the Ir [of Shiloh], and told it, kol HaIr cried out.

Esther 1:1Now it came to pass in the yamim of Achashverosh, (this is Achashverosh which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces;)

Esther 4:16Go, gather together kol HaYehudim that are found in Shushan, and declare ye a tzom for me, and neither eat nor drink shloshet yamim, lailah vayom. I also and my na'arot will undergo a tzom likewise; and so will I go in unto HaMelech, though it is not according to the dat; and if I perish, I perish.

Job 2:8And he took him a cheres (potsherd, piece of broken pottery) to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.

Isaiah 22:12And in that day did Adonoi Hashem Tzva'os 1 call to weeping, and to wailing, 1 and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth; 1

Isaiah 58:5Is such as this a tzom that I have chosen? 1 Merely for adam to afflict his nefesh? 1 To bow down his rosh like a bulrush, 1 and to spread sackcloth and efer (ashes) under him? 1 Wilt thou call this a tzom, 1 and a yom ratzon (a day of acceptance, an acceptable day) unto Hashem? 1

Matthew Henry on Esther 4:2-5

Great Mourning among the Jews. ( b. c. 510.) 1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; 2 And came even before the king's gate: for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 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… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

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