Bible Strands
Esther 4:8
Mordecai also gave Hathach a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for the destruction of the Jews, to show and explain to Esther, urging her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead before him for her people.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Mordecai instructs Hathach to deliver a copy of Haman's decree to Esther, urging her to intervene with the king on behalf of the Jewish people. This occurs immediately after Mordecai explains the financial bribe Haman offered to justify the annihilation order.
The words — The text highlights פַּתְשֶׁגֶן (patShegen), meaning "copy" or "official document," and כְּתָב הַדָּת (khtav hadat), literally "writing of the law." These terms specify that Mordecai provides a tangible, authoritative record of the royal decree to Susa.
The thread — The command to plead before a sovereign echoes the posture found in Job 9:15, where human righteousness cannot withstand divine judgment and only mercy remains. Esther 2:20 establishes the background of Mordecai's ongoing instruction over Esther's concealed identity.
Why it lands — The passage requires a reader to recognize that institutional power operates through documented decrees and that deliverance depends on intercession rather than passive compliance. It demands a direct response to a written threat through authorized appeal.
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
Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.
Cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 10:4 If the ruler’s temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest.
- Job 9:15 For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
- Esther 2:20 Esther still had not revealed her lineage or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed. She obeyed Mordecai’s command, as she had done under his care.
- Esther 3:14 A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued in every province and published to all the people, so that they would be ready on that day.
- 1 Timothy 6:13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession in His testimony before Pontius Pilate:
- Nehemiah 2:3 and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
- Esther 7:3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life as my petition, and the lives of my people as my request.
- Esther 8:6 For how could I bear to see the disaster that would befall my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”
- Proverbs 16:14 The wrath of a king is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.
- Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.