Bible Strands
Esther 4:14
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Mordecai speaks to Esther, countering her fear of approaching the king unsummoned. He sends this reply from outside the palace, urging her to act.
The words — רֶוַח (revach, H7305) means "relief," a rare Hebrew word carrying the sense of breathing room or respite. תַּחֲרִישׁ (tacharish, H2790) is the verb "you will keep quiet," the central demand of the verse.
The thread — The assurance that deliverance will come "from another place" echoes 1 Samuel 12:22 and Deuteronomy 32:36, where God commits to not abandoning His people. Genesis 45:4 parallels the providential placement: Joseph rose to power precisely at the moment his family needed him.
Why it lands — The verse strips away the comfort of passive safety: Esther's silence will not save her household, and her position is framed as deliberate rather than accidental. It asks the reader to reckon with whether their own "kingdom" is a coincidence or a commission.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Cross-references
- Genesis 45:4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt!
- 1 Samuel 12:22 Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
- Deuteronomy 32:36 For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.
- Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 30:11 For I am with you to save you, declares the LORD. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have scattered you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”
- Matthew 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
- Acts 7:20 At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God. For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house.
- Ezra 9:9 Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but He has extended to us grace in the sight of the kings of Persia, giving us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and giving us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 46:28 And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, for I am with you. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”
- Esther 2:15 Now Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle from whom Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. And when it was her turn to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king’s trusted official in charge of the harem, had advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her.