Esther 4:12–14
Mordecai to Esther: who knows whether you came to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Study it word by word12And they made known to Mordecai the words of Esther.
13And Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine for yourself that you will escape in the king’s house more than all the Jews.
14For if you really keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and the house of your father will perish. And who knows whether for a time like this you have come to the kingdom?”
In its context
10And Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him orders for Mordecai:
11“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes in to the king, into the inner court, who has not been called, his law is one: to put him to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, and he will live. But I have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.”
…
15And Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,
16“Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Susa, and fast for me, and do not eat and do not drink for three days, night and day. I also and my young women will fast in the same way; and so I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”
Its words in the original
- יַּגִּידוּyagidu· tell, declare
Tell, make known, report, declare; also explain.
- מָרְדֳּכָיmardochay· Mordecai
Mordecai: the name of one of those who returned with Zerubbabel; in the book of Esther, the relative who raised Esther.
- דִּבְרֵיdivre· word, matter, thing
Word; what is said. Also "matter" or "thing": what is spoken about, an affair, an event.
- אֶסְתֵּרester· Esther
Esther: the other name of Hadassah, the Jewish young woman, cousin of Mordecai, who became queen of Persia and delivered her people.
- יֹּאמֶרyomer· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- הָשִׁיבhashiv· return, turn back
Turn back, return. Also turn away; in the causative form, bring back, give back, answer. Figuratively, turn back to God (change course). Often adverbial: "again".
- תְּדַמִּיtedami· think, intend; be like
Think, intend; also compare or be like.
- נַפְשֵׁnafshe· soul, living being, life
A breathing being, a living being. It is translated "living being" (people and animals), "life" (when living or dying is at stake), "person" (in counts and laws), "soul" (the person at the innermost: desires, joy, anguish) or "myself". In the Old Testament it names the whole living being, not only a part of it.
- הִמָּלֵטhimalet· escape
Escape, get to safety; in the causative form, rescue, let escape.
- בֵּיתbet· house, household
House. Also the family that lives in it ("the house of Noah") and someone's descendants ("the house of David"); also a temple, "the house of God".
- מֶּלֶךְmelech· king
King: the ruler of a city, a people or a kingdom.
- יְּהוּדִיםyehudim· Jew, Judean
Jew: a person of Judah, first of the kingdom of Judah and then, in general, of the people descended from it. Its first appearance is 2 Kings 16:6, where it names the men of Judah who lived in Elath. It is frequent in Jeremiah, Nehemiah and Esther.
- הַחֲרֵשׁhacharesh· be silent; plow, engrave
Be silent, keep quiet, let something pass. The same Hebrew form also means plow, engrave, and devise or plot.
- עֵתet· time
Time, moment, season; "now".
- רֶוַחrevach· space; relief
Space, distance between two things. Elsewhere, relief.
- הַצָּלָהhatsala· deliverance
Deliverance: being brought out of a danger. The word appears only once in the Bible (Esther 4:14).
- יַעֲמוֹדyaamod· stand
Stand; stay, remain, endure. "Stand before" someone is to serve him or be in his presence. In another form of the verb, set up, place, appoint.
- מָּקוֹםmakom· place
Place, spot; the space someone or something occupies; also a home or a holy place.
- אַחֵרacher· other
Other, another; next.
- אָבִיavi· father
Father; also ancestor ("our fathers"), and the founder or head of a family or group.
- תֹּאבֵדוּtovedu· perish, be lost
Perish, be ruined, be lost; wander off. In the causative, destroy.
- יוֹדֵעַyodea· know
Know. Not only having a fact: it is knowing by experience and closely; also recognize, care for, make known. So Hebrew also uses it for the intimate union of a man and his wife ("he knew his wife").
- הִגַּעַתְּhigaat· touch
Touch; also reach, or strike.
- מַּלְכוּתmalchut· kingdom, reign
Kingdom, reign: the rule of a king.