Discovery BoxEsther 4:3 
Context4:3 Throughout each and every province where the king’s edict and law were announced 1 there was considerable 2 mourning among the Jews, along with fasting, weeping, and sorrow. 3 Sackcloth and ashes were characteristic 4 of many.
Esther 4:16
Context4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I 5 will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. 6 If I perish, I perish!”
1 tn Heb “reached” (so NAB, NLT); KJV, NASB, NIV “came”; TEV “wherever the king’s proclamation was made known.”
2 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the Jews went into deep mourning.”
3 sn Although prayer is not specifically mentioned here, it is highly unlikely that appeals to God for help were not a part of this reaction to devastating news. As elsewhere in the book of Esther, the writer seems deliberately to keep religious actions in the background.
4 tn Heb “were spread to many”; KJV, NIV “many (+ people NLT) lay in sackcloth and ashes.”
5 tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.
6 tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”
