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On hearing the king's decree to exterminate the
Jews, Mordecai mourns, and clothes himself in
sackcloth, 1,2.
The Jews are filled with
consternation, 3.
Esther, perceived Mordecai in
distress at the palace gate, sends her servant
Hatach to inquire the reason, 4-6.
Hatach returns
with the information, and also the express desire
of Mordecai that she should go instantly to the king,
and make supplication in behalf of her
people, 7-9.
Esther excuses herself on the ground
that she had not been called by the king for
thirty days past; and that the law was such that
any one approaching his presence, without express
invitation, should be put to death, unless the king
should, in peculiar clemency, stretch out to such
persons the golden sceptre, 10-12.
Mordecai returns an answer, insisting on her
compliance, 13,14.
She then orders Mordecai to
gather all the Jews of Shushan, and fast for her
success three days, night and day, and resolves to
make the attempt, though at the risk of her life, 15-17.
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Verse 1 . Mordecai rent his
clothes
He gave every demonstration
of the most poignant and oppressive grief. Nor did he
hide this from the city; and the Greek says that he
uttered these words aloud: (οις ),
A people are going to be destroyed, who have
done no evil!
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Verse 2 . Before the king's
gate
He could not enter into the
gate, of the place where the officers waited, because he
was in the habit of a mourner; for this would have been
contrary to law.
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Verse 3 . Fasting, and weeping,
and wailing
How astonishing, that in
all this there is not the slightest intimation given
of praying to God!
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Verse 4 . Sent
raiment
She supposed that he must
have been spoiled of his raiment by some means; and
therefore sent him clothing.
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Verse 5 . Then called Esther
for Hatach
This eunuch the king had
appointed to wait upon her, partly, as is still the case
in the East, to serve her, and partly, to
observe her conduct; for no despot is ever exempt
from a twofold torture, jealousy and
suspicion.
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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.
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Verse 11 . Into the inner
court
We have already seen that the
Persian sovereigns affected the highest degree of
majesty, even to the assuming of Divine
honours. No man nor woman dared to appear
unveiled before them, without hazarding their
lives; into the inner chamber of the harem no
person ever entered but the king, and the woman he had
chosen to call thither. None even of his courtiers or
ministers dared to appear there; nor the most beloved of
his concubines, except led thither by himself, or
ordered to come to him. Here was Esther's difficulty;
and that difficulty was now increased by the
circumstance of her not having been sent for to the
king's bed for thirty days. In the last verse of
the preceding chapter we find that the king and Haman
sat down to drink. It is very likely that
this wicked man had endeavoured to draw the king's
attention from the queen, that his affection might be
lessened, as he must have known something of the
relationship between her and Mordecai; and consequently
viewed her as a person who, in all probability, might
stand much in the way of the accomplishment of his
designs. I cannot but think that he had been the
cause why Esther had not seen the king for thirty
days.
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Verse 13 . Think not-that thou
shalt escape
This confirms the
suspicion that Haman knew something of the relationship
between Mordecai and Esther; and therefore he gives her
to understand that, although in the king's
palace, she should no more escape than the
Jews.
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Verse 14 . Then shall there
enlargement and deliverance arise
He
had a confidence that deliverance would come by some
means; and he thought that Esther would be the
most likely; and that, if she did not use the influence
which her providential station gave her, she would be
highly culpable.
And who knoweth whether thou
art come
As if he had said, "Is it
likely that Divine providence would have so
distinguished thee, and raised thee from a state of
abject obscurity, merely for thy own sake?
Must it not have been on some public account! Did
not he see what was coming? and has he not put
thee in the place where thou mayest counteract one of
the most ruinous purposes ever formed?" Is there a human
being who has not some particular station by an especial
providence, at some particular time, in which he can be
of some essential service to his neighbour, in averting
evil or procuring good, if he be but faithful to the
grace and opportunity afforded by this
station? Who dares give a negative to these questions?
We lose much, both in reference to ourselves and
others, by not adverting to our
providental situation and
circumstances. While on this subject, I will give
the reader two important sayings, from two eminent men,
both keen observers of human nature, and deeply
attentive in all such cases to the operations of Divine
providence:-
"To every thing there is a season; and a time to
every purpose under heaven. Therefore withhold not good
from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of
thy hand to do it. SOLOMON.
There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which,
taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is
bound in shallows, and in miseries.
SHAKESPEARE.
Has there not been a case, within time of
memory, when evil was designed against a whole
people, through the Hamans who had poisoned the ears of
well-intentioned men; in which one poor man, in
consequence of a situation into which he was brought by
an astonishing providence, used the influence which his
situation gave him; and, by the mercy of his God, turned
the whole evil aside? By the association of ideas the
following passage will present itself to the reader's
memory, who may have any acquaintance with the
circumstance:-
"There was a little city, and few men within it; and
there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and
built great bulwarks against it. Now there was found in
it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the
city; yet no man remembered that same poor
man!"
"Then said, I, Ah, Lord God! They say of me,
DOTH HE NOT SPEAK PARABLES?" Rem acu tetigi.
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Verse 16 . Fast ye for me, and
neither eat nor drink three days
What
a strange thing, that still we hear nothing of
prayer, nor of God! What is the ground on
which we can account for this total silence? I know it
not. She could not suppose there was any charm in
fasting, sackcloth garments, and lying on the ground. If
these were not done to turn away the displeasure of God,
which seemed now to have unchained their enemies against
them, what were they done for?
If I perish, I
perish.
If I lose my life in this
attempt to save my people, I shall lose it cheerfully. I
see it is my duty to make the attempt; and, come what
will, I am resolved to do it. She must, however, have
depended much on the efficacy of the humiliations she
prescribed.
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Copyright Statement
The Adam Clarke Commentary is a derivative
of an electronic edition prepared by GodRules.net.
Bibliography
Information
Clarke, Adam.
"Commentary on Esther 4". "The Adam Clarke Commentary".
<http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=es&chapter=004>.
1832.
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