Esther 4:1

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Now when Mordecai saw what was done, pulling off his robe, he put on haircloth, with dust on his head, and went out into the middle of the town, crying out with a loud and bitter cry.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וּמָרְדֳּכַ֗י יָדַע֙ אֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר נַעֲשָׂ֔ה וַיִּקְרַ֤ע מָרְדֳּכַי֙ אֶת־בְּגָדָ֔יו וַיִּלְבַּ֥שׁ שַׂ֖ק וָאֵ֑פֶר וַיֵּצֵא֙ בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעִ֔יר וַיִּזְעַ֛ק זְעָקָ֥ה גְדֹלָ֖ה וּמָרָֽה׃

Transliteration

And Mordᵉḵay yāḏaʿ ʾet-all-which naʿᵃśâ, and wayyiqraʿ Mordᵉḵay ʾet-bᵉḡāḏāyw, and wayyilbaš śaq and-ʾēp̄er, and wayyēṣēʾ in-midst the-ʿîr, and wayyizʿaq zᵉʿāqâ ḡᵉḏōlâ and-mārâ.

Grammar Details

• *Mordᵉḵay*: proper noun, masculine singular - Mordecai
• *yāḏaʿ*: Qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - he knew/perceived
• *ʾet*: direct object marker
• *naʿᵃśâ*: Niphal perfect, 3rd masculine singular - it was done
• *wayyiqraʿ*: Qal imperfect with waw consecutive, 3rd masculine singular - and he tore
• *bᵉḡāḏāyw*: noun masculine plural construct with 3rd masculine singular suffix - his garments
• *wayyilbaš*: Qal imperfect with waw consecutive, 3rd masculine singular - and he put on/wore
• *śaq*: noun masculine singular - sackcloth
• *ʾēp̄er*: noun masculine singular - ashes
• *wayyēṣēʾ*: Qal imperfect with waw consecutive, 3rd masculine singular - and he went out
• *ʿîr*: noun feminine singular - city
• *wayyizʿaq*: Qal imperfect with waw consecutive, 3rd masculine singular - and he cried out
• *zᵉʿāqâ*: noun feminine singular - outcry/cry
• *ḡᵉḏōlâ*: adjective feminine singular - great/loud
• *mārâ*: adjective feminine singular - bitter

Word Meanings

• *yāḏaʿ*: knew/understood/perceived/learned
• *naʿᵃśâ*: was done/happened/occurred
• *ʾēp̄er*: ashes/dust
• *zᵉʿāqâ*: outcry/shriek/wail
• *mārâ*: bitter/grievous/sorrowful

Referenced Verses

• 2 Sam 1:11 : 11 Then David gave way to bitter grief, and so did all the men who were with him:
• 2 Sam 13:19 : 19 And Tamar, in her grief, put dust on her head; and she put her hand on her head and went away crying loudly.
• Ezek 27:30-31 : 30 And their voices will be sounding over you, and crying bitterly they will put dust on their heads, rolling themselves in the dust: 31 And they will have the hair of their heads cut off because of you, and will put haircloth on their bodies, weeping for you with bitter grief in their souls, even with bitter sorrow.
• Dan 9:3 : 3 And turning my face to the Lord God, I gave myself up to prayer, requesting his grace, going without food, in haircloth and dust.
• Jonah 3:4-9 : 4 And Jonah first of all went a day's journey into the town, and crying out said, In forty days destruction will overtake Nineveh. 5 And the people of Nineveh had belief in God; and a time was fixed for going without food, and they put on haircloth, from the greatest to the least. 6 And the word came to the king of Nineveh, and he got up from his seat of authority, and took off his robe, and covering himself with haircloth, took his seat in the dust. 7 And he had it given out in Nineveh, By the order of the king and his great men, no man or beast, herd or flock, is to have a taste of anything; let them have no food or water: 8 And let man and beast be covered with haircloth, and let them make strong prayers to God: and let everyone be turned from his evil way and the violent acts of their hands. 9 Who may say that God will not be turned, changing his purpose and turning away from his burning wrath, so that destruction may not overtake us?
• Mic 1:8 : 8 For this I will be full of sorrow and give cries of grief; I will go uncovered and unclothed: I will give cries of grief like the jackals and will be in sorrow like the ostriches.
• Zeph 1:14 : 14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and coming very quickly; the bitter day of the Lord is near, coming on more quickly than a man of war.
• Matt 11:21 : 21 Unhappy are you, Chorazin! Unhappy are you, Beth-saida! For if the works of power which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have been turned from their sins in days gone by, clothing themselves in haircloth and putting dust on their heads.
• Acts 14:14 : 14 But when this came to the ears of the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas, they went running out among the people, parting their clothing, and crying out,
• Rev 18:17-19 : 17 For in one hour such great wealth has come to nothing. And every shipmaster, and all who are sailing on the sea, and sailors and all who get their living by the sea, were watching from far away, 18 And crying out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What town is like the great town? 19 And they put dust on their heads, and were sad, weeping and crying, and saying, Sorrow, sorrow for the great town, in which was increased the wealth of all who had their ships on the sea because of her great stores! for in one hour she is made waste.
• Esth 3:8-9 : 8 And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain nation living here and there in small groups among the people in all the divisions of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of any other nation, and they do not keep the king's laws: for this reason it is not right for the king to let them be. 9 If it is the king's pleasure, let a statement ordering their destruction be put in writing: and I will give to those responsible for the king's business, ten thousand talents of silver for the king's store-house. 10 And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the hater of the Jews. 11 And the king said to Haman, The money is yours, and the people, to do with them whatever seems right to you. 12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month, the king's scribes were sent for, and they put in writing Haman's orders to all the king's captains and the rulers of every division of his kingdom and the chiefs of every people: for every division of the kingdom in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs; it was signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with the king's ring. 13 And letters were sent by the runners into every division of the kingdom ordering the death and destruction of all Jews, young and old, little children and women, on the same day, even the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar, and the taking of all their goods by force.
• Esth 4:3 : 3 And in every part of the kingdom, wherever the king's word and his order came, there was great sorrow among the Jews, and weeping and crying and going without food; and numbers of them were stretched on the earth covered with dust and haircloth.
• Job 1:20 : 20 Then Job got up, and after parting his clothing and cutting off his hair, he went down on his face to the earth, and gave worship, and said,
• Job 2:8 : 8 And he took a broken bit of a pot, and, seated in the dust, was rubbing himself with the sharp edge of it.
• Job 42:6 : 6 For this cause I give witness that what I said is false, and in sorrow I take my seat in the dust.
• Isa 15:4 : 4 Heshbon is crying out, and Elealeh; their voice is sounding even to Jahaz: for this cause the heart of Moab is shaking; his soul is shaking with fear.
• Isa 22:4 : 4 For this cause I have said, Let your eyes be turned away from me in my bitter weeping; I will not be comforted for the wasting of the daughter of my people.
• Isa 58:5 : 5 Have I given orders for such a day as this? a day for keeping yourselves from pleasure? is it only a question of the bent head, of putting on haircloth, and being seated in the dust? is this what seems to you a holy day, well-pleasing to the Lord?
• Ezek 21:6 : 6 Make sounds of grief, son of man; with body bent and a bitter heart make sounds of grief before their eyes.
• Gen 27:34 : 34 And hearing the words of his father, Esau gave a great and bitter cry, and said to his father, Give a blessing to me, even to me, O my father!
• Josh 7:6 : 6 Then Joshua, in great grief, went down on the earth before the ark of the Lord till the evening, and all the chiefs of Israel with him, and they put dust on their heads.