Esther 4:1

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Esther Decides to Risk Everything in order to Help Her People Now when Mordecai became aware of all that had been done, he tore his garments and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city, crying out in a loud and bitter voice.

📖 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 David then grabbed his own clothes and tore them, as did all the men who were with him.
• 2 Sam 13:19 : 19 Then Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went on her way, wailing as she went.
• Ezek 27:30-31 : 30 They will lament loudly over you and cry bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in the ashes; 31 they will tear out their hair because of you and put on sackcloth, and they will weep bitterly over you with intense mourning.
• Dan 9:3 : 3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
• Jonah 3:4-9 : 4 When Jonah began to enter the city one day’s walk, he announced,“At the end of forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!” 5 The people of Nineveh believed in God, and they declared a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on ashes. 7 He issued a proclamation and said,“In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, cattle or sheep, is to taste anything; they must not eat and they must not drink water. 8 Every person and animal must put on sackcloth and must cry earnestly to God, and everyone must turn from their evil way of living and from the violence that they do. 9 Who knows? Perhaps God might be willing to change his mind and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we might not die.”
• Mic 1:8 : 8 For this reason I will mourn and wail; I will walk around barefoot and without my outer garments. I will howl like a wild dog, and screech like an owl.
• Zeph 1:14 : 14 The LORD’s great day of judgment is almost here; it is approaching very rapidly! There will be a bitter sound on the LORD’s day of judgment; at that time warriors will cry out in battle.
• Matt 11:21 : 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
• Acts 14:14 : 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting,
• Rev 18:17-19 : 17 because in a single hour such great wealth has been destroyed!” And every ship’s captain, and all who sail along the coast– seamen, and all who make their living from the sea, stood a long way off 18 and began to shout when they saw the smoke from the fire that burned her up,“Who is like the great city?” 19 And they threw dust on their heads and were shouting with weeping and mourning,“Woe, Woe, O great city– in which all those who had ships on the sea got rich from her wealth– because in a single hour she has been destroyed!”
• Esth 3:8-9 : 8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus,“There is a particular people that is dispersed and spread among the inhabitants throughout all the provinces of your kingdom whose laws differ from those of all other peoples. Furthermore, they do not observe the king’s laws. It is not appropriate for the king to provide a haven for them. 9 If the king is so inclined, let an edict be issued to destroy them. I will pay 10,000 talents of silver to be conveyed to the king’s treasuries for the officials who carry out this business.” 10 So the king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, who was hostile toward the Jews. 11 The king replied to Haman,“Keep your money, and do with those people whatever you wish.” 12 So the royal scribes were summoned in the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month. Everything Haman commanded was written to the king’s satraps and governors who were in every province and to the officials of every people, province by province according to its script and people by people according to its language. In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written and sealed with the king’s signet ring. 13 Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day of the twelfth month(that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions.
• Esth 4:3 : 3 Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced there was considerable mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow. Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic of many.
• Job 1:20 : 20 Then Job got up and tore his robe. He shaved his head, and then he threw himself down with his face to the ground.
• Job 2:8 : 8 Job took a shard of broken pottery to scrape himself with while he was sitting among the ashes.
• Job 42:6 : 6 Therefore I despise myself, and I repent in dust and ashes!
• Isa 15:4 : 4 The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz. For this reason Moab’s soldiers shout in distress; their courage wavers.
• Isa 22:4 : 4 So I say:“Don’t look at me! I am weeping bitterly. Don’t try to console me concerning the destruction of my defenseless people.”
• Isa 58:5 : 5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, bowing their heads like a reed and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call a fast, a day that is pleasing to the LORD?
• Ezek 21:6 : 6 “And you, son of man, groan with an aching heart and bitterness; groan before their eyes.
• Gen 27:34 : 34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. He said to his father,“Bless me too, my father!”
• Josh 7:6 : 6 Joshua tore his clothes; he and the leaders of Israel lay face down on the ground before the ark of the LORD until evening and threw dirt on their heads.