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Verse Takeaways
1
The King's Insulated World
Commentators explain that the rule against sackcloth at the king's gate was a common practice in ancient Eastern courts. The goal was to shield the monarch from anything sad or ill-omened, creating an artificial bubble of pleasure and peace. This law highlights the vast gulf between the king's insulated reality and the life-or-death crisis facing Mordecai and the Jewish people.
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Book Overview
Esther
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Commentaries
4
Albert Barnes
On Esther 4:2
18th Century
Theologian
None might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth - This law is not elsewhere mentioned; but its principle—that nothing of evil o…
Charles Ellicott
On Esther 4:2
19th Century
Bishop
None might enter ... —That nothing sad or ill-omened might meet the monarch’s gaze, as though by shutting his eyes, as it were, to…
John Gill
On Esther 4:2
17th Century
Pastor
And came even before the king's gate
Or court, that Esther might if possible be made acquainted with this dreadful c…
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Matthew Henry
On Esther 4:1–4
17th Century
Minister
Mordecai avowed his relation to the Jews. Public calamities, which oppress the church of God, should affect our hearts more than any private afflic…