Esther 4:4

So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) So Esther’s maids . . .—It is perhaps fair to infer from this, that Esther’s connection with Mordecai was known to those about her, though as yet not to the king.

Benson Commentary

Esther 4:4. So Esther’s maids came and told it her — Namely, that Mordecai appeared before the king’s gate in sackcloth. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved — Imagining some mischief had befallen him, and not yet knowing what it was; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai — That so he might be capable of returning to his former place, if not of coming to acquaint her with the cause of his sorrow. But he received it not — Which, no doubt, very much increased her grief and surprise.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:1-4 Mordecai avowed his relation to the Jews. Public calamities, that oppress the church of God, should affect our hearts more than any private affliction, and it is peculiarly distressing to occasion sufferings to others. God will keep those that are exposed to evil by the tenderness of their consciences.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Esther's maids ... told it her - Esther's nationality and her relationship to Mordecai were probably by this time known to her attendants, though still concealed from the king. See Esther 7:4.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. Then was the queen … grieved; and … sent raiment to … Mordecai—Her object in doing so was either to qualify him for resuming his former office, or else, perhaps, of fitting him to come near enough to the palace to inform her of the cause of such sudden and extreme distress.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

She sent raiment to clothe Mordecai; that so he might be capable of returning to his former place, if not of coming to her to acquaint her with the cause of that unusual sorrow.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told it her,.... Her maids of honour and eunuchs that attended her, which they might tell her merely as a piece of news, there being something shocking in it to tender minds; or perhaps nothing more than that Mordecai was in sackcloth; and they might have observed, by some incident or another, that there was some connection between Mordecai and Esther, and that she had a peculiar respect for him:

then was the queen exceedingly grieved; even though she might not know the whole of the matter; but perceiving whatever it was it greatly affected Mordecai, with whom she sympathized:

and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him; that so he might appear at court, and she get better intelligence of the cause of all this:

but he received it not; refusing to be comforted, or appear cheerful under such melancholy circumstances.

Geneva Study Bible

So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4–17. Esther’s grief and the communications between her and Mordecai

4. came and told it her] Although unaware, according to the story, of the queen’s relationship to Mordecai, her attendants knew (see Esther 2:11) the importance which he attached to her welfare, and therefore they presumed that his mourning garb would bespeak her interest.

she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai] so that he might come within the gate and tell her the cause of his distress.

but he received it not] by this refusal indicating the dire nature of the calamity of which it was the symbol.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 4. - Esther's maids and her chamberlains. A queen consort at an Oriental court is sure to have, besides her train of maids, a numerous body of eunuchs, who are at her entire disposal, and are especially employed in going her errands and maintaining her communications with the outer world. Told her. Esther's interest in Mordecai would be known to the maids and eunuchs by Mordecai's inquiries about her (Esther 1:11) and communications with her (ibid. ver. 22). Esther 4:4

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The matter was made known to Esther by her maids and eunuchs, i.e., by her attendants. The Chethiv תּבואינה does not elsewhere occur after ו consecutive, hence the substitution of the Keri תּבואנה. The object of יגּידוּ: what they told her, is evidently, from what follows, the circumstance of Mordochai's appearance in deep mourning before the gate of the palace. On receiving this information the queen fell into convulsive grief (תּתחלחל, an intensive form of חוּל, to be seized with painful grief), and sent to Mordochai raiment to put on instead of his sackcloth, evidently for the purpose of enabling him to enter the palace and give her the particulars of what had happened. But Mordochai did not accept the raiment.