Esther 4:3 (DBY)

Passage

And in every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing: many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Nearby Context

Esther 4:1 And when Mordecai knew all that was done, Mordecai rent his garments, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry,

Esther 4:2 and came even before the king's gate; for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.

Esther 4:3 And in every province, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing: many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Esther 4:4 And Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told [it] her; and the queen was exceedingly grieved: and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him; but he received [it] not.

Esther 4:5 Then Esther called for Hatach, [one] of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to wait upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "province", "wherever", "king's", "commandment", "decree", "came", "great", and "mourning". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "province" and "wherever", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "and came even before the king's gate..." into verse 4's "And Esther's maids and her chamberlains came...", so "province" and "wherever" belong inside that flow. In Esther context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "province" and "wherever" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.