Esther 4:3

Est 4:3 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 sackcloth and ashes.

Ver. 3. And in every province] Heb. In every province, and province, &c., not only in Shushan, which, say the Hebrews, was called Elam Hammedina, but throughout the king’s dominions.

Whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree] The latter was irrevocable, and therefore more dreadful.

There was great mourning among the Jews] Not murmuring or mutinying, or meditating revenge against the king and Haman. Not casting away their confidence in God, or committing all to fate and blind fortune. Not crying out of religion, as unhappy, to the professors, (ω τλημων αρετη, said he in the story. Oh miserable virtue! Oh practice of no profit! &c., Brutus apud Dion). Not taking up arms or betaking themselves to flight; (how should poor galley slaves at this day flee out of the middle of Turkey?) prayers and tears were the weapons of these condemned captives and prisoners. It troubled them exceedingly (as well it might), that through fearfulness and negligence they had not, before this, gone back to their own country, with Zerubbabel or some other, when they had good leave to have gone with their brethren; and God himself cried out unto them, "Ho, ho, come forth," &c., Zec 2:6. "Arise, depart; this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction," Mic 2:10. This was now a bodkin at their hearts; like as it shall be one day to those in hell, to think, we might have been delivered.

And fasting] The word signifieth an abstinence from food and sustenance, either a toto, totally, as 2Sa 12:16, or at least a tanto eta tali, partially, as Dan 10:2-3. Hence, it is called a day of restraint, Nηστεια, Joe 2:15. Hence, Zec 8:19, they separated themselves, viz. from work, food, and delights, for the furtherance of their repentance, and the enforcing of their prayers. Preces nobis ieiuniis alendum, et quasi saginandum, saith one, our prayers must be pampered and grain fed with fasting. A practice in use, not among Jews and Christians only, but among Egyptian priests, Persian magi, and Indian wizards of old, and Turks to this day when they are in any great fear of pressure.

And weeping, and wailing] This was the way to get in with God, though they might not come crying to the court. Oh the divine rhetoric and omnipotent efficacy of penitent tears! Psa 6:8, Weeping hath a voice. Christ turned to the weeping women, when going to his cross, and comforted them. He showed great respects to Mary Magdalene, that weeping vine; she had the first sight of the revived Phoenix (though so bleared that she could scarce discern him), and held him fast by those feet which she had once washed with her tears, and wherewith he had lately trod upon the lion and adder, Psa 91:13.

And many lay in sackcloth and ashes] As many as were more deeply affected with their sins, and the sad consequents thereof. David lay on the bare ground, χαμαικοιτης, 2Sa 12:16; these, and those Joe 1:13, lodged in sackcloth and ashes, that they might watch as well as fast. See how they go linked together, Mar 13:33. See Est 4:16.

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.

Est_4:3

And in every province . . . there was great mourning among the Jews.

A sentence of death

If a sentence of death pronounced by an earthly sovereign produced such grief, such anxiety, such cries of deliverance, what impression ought to be made on the minds of sinners by that sentence which is passed against them in the court of heaven?--Judgment is come upon all men to condemnation. We are still under that sentence of condemnation if we are not in Christ Jesus. Surely we believe neither law nor gospel, if we can enjoy peace in our own minds, without the humble hope of mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (G. Lawson.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Est 4:3. And many lay in sackcloth and ashes — All day long they fasted, and wept, and lamented; and in the night many lay, not in their beds, but in sack or haircloth strewed with ashes.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4:3 great mourning among the Jews: In these reports of lamenting, God’s name is not mentioned, but the lamenting and fasting implies crying out in prayer for God to intervene and save his people (Exod 2:23-25; Ezra 9:5-15; Dan 9:1-19).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hebrew, sackcloth and ashes were spread for many.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 3. Fasting, and weeping, and wailing] How astonishing, that in all this there is not the slightest intimation given of praying to God!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. many lay in sackcloth and ashes] lit. sackcloth and ashes were spread under many.

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.

And in every province whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came,.... For destroying the Jews on such a day, in every place where they were to be found:

there was great mourning among the Jews, and weeping, and wailing; which continued all day:

and many lay in sackcloth and ashes: all night; made use of no other bed to lie on, nor clothes to cover them with.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Edict. Literally, "dogma;: (Haydock) a word used in this sense, (Acts xv. 16.) and by Demosthenes, &c. (Tirinus) --- Mourning. The most effectual means of redress, is to do works of penance for past transgressions, 1 Corinthians xi. 31. (Worthington)

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).

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.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

and many lay

Heb. sackcloth and ashes were laid under many. Isa 58:5; Dan 9:3.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

the king’s orders and his edict When the couriers carrying the letters passed, the edict was given in the city.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.