Esther 4:14–16
Esther decides to go in to the king, risking her life: “if I perish, I perish”
Study it word by word14For 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?”
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.”
In its context
12And 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.
…
17And Mordecai went away and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
Its words in the original
- 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.
- 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.
- מָּקוֹםmakom· place
Place, spot; the space someone or something occupies; also a home or a holy place.
- אַחֵרacher· other
Other, another; next.
- בֵיתvet· 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".
- 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.
- תֹּאמֶרtomer· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- אֶסְתֵּרester· Esther
Esther: the other name of Hadassah, the Jewish young woman, cousin of Mordecai, who became queen of Persia and delivered her people.
- 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".
- מָרְדֳּכָיmardochay· Mordecai
Mordecai: the name of one of those who returned with Zerubbabel; in the book of Esther, the relative who raised Esther.
- לֵךְlech· go, walk
Go, walk, depart; in the causative form, lead or bring.
- כְּנוֹסkenos· gather
To gather: to bring people or things together in one place.
- נִּמְצְאִיםnimtsim· find
Find, come upon; also obtain, reach; in the passive, be found, be present.
- שׁוּשָׁןshushan· Susa
Susa: a city of Elam, one of the capitals of the kings of Persia. There Nehemiah served and there the book of Esther takes place.
- צוּמוּtsumu· fast
Fast: go without food for a time, as a sign of grief or to seek God.
- תֹּאכְלוּtochlu· eat
Eat; also consume, devour (said of fire or the sword).
- תִּשְׁתּוּtishtu· drink
Drink.
- שְׁלֹשֶׁתsheloshet· three
Three; also "third" or "three times".
- יָמִיםyamim· day
Day: the hours of light, or a whole day from one evening to the next. Also an indefinite time or age ("in the day that...", "in those days").
- לַיְלָהlayla· night
Night.
- נַעֲרֹתַnaarota· girl, young woman
Girl, young woman; also maidservant.
- אָבוֹאavo· come, go in, bring
Come, arrive, go in, enter. In the causative form, "bring" or "carry in". "Go in to" a woman is to have marital relations with her.
- מֶּלֶךְmelech· king
King: the ruler of a city, a people or a kingdom.
- דָּתdat· law, decree
Law, decree.