Esther 4:14

Esther 4:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
• New International Version (NIV)For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
• English Standard Version (ESV)For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
• New King James Version (NKJV)For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Context of Esther 4:14

12So they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, liberation and rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish [since you did not help when you had the chance]. And who knows whether you have attained royalty for such a time as this [and for this very purpose]?” 15Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16“Go, gather all the Jews that are present in Susa, and observe a fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids also will fast in the same way. Then I will go in to [see] the king [without being summoned], which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

Esther 4:14 word by word

כִּ֣י אִם־הַחֲרֵ֣שׁ תַּחֲרִישִׁי֮ בָּעֵ֣ת הַזֹּאת֒ רֶ֣וַח וְהַצָּלָ֞ה יַעֲמ֤וֹד לַיְּהוּדִים֙ מִמָּק֣וֹם אַחֵ֔ר וְאַ֥תְּ וּבֵית־אָבִ֖יךְ תֹּאבֵ֑דוּ וּמִ֣י יוֹדֵ֔עַ אִם־לְעֵ֣ת כָּזֹ֔את הִגַּ֖עַתְּ לַמַּלְכֽוּת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For if thou altogetherחָרֵשׁchârash · be quietH2790
• at this timeעֵת‛êth · timeH6256
• shall there enlargementרֶ֫וַחrevach · spaceH7305
• and deliveranceהַצָּלָהhatstsâlâh · deliveranceH2020
• ariseעָמַד‛âmad · to stand: riseH5975
• to the Jewsיְהוּדִיyehûdîy · JewH3064
• from anotherאַחֵר'achêr · anotherH312
• placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725
• but thou and thy father’sאָב'âb · fatherH1
• houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: householdH1004
• shall be destroyedאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
• and who knowethיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• whether thou art comeנָגַעnâga‛ · to touchH5060
• to the kingdomמַלְכוּתmalkûth malkûth malkûyâh · royaltyH4438

Cross-references for Esther 4:14

• Genesis 22:14So Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide. And it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be seen and provided.”
• Numbers 23:22God brought them out of Egypt; They have the strength of a wild ox.
• Deuteronomy 32:26I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces [scattering them far away], I will remove the memory of them from men,”
• 1 Samuel 12:22The Lord will not abandon His people for His great name’s sake, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.
• Isaiah 54:17No weapon that is formed against you will succeed; And every tongue that rises against you in judgment you will condemn. This [peace, righteousness, security, and triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And this is their vindication from Me,” says the Lord.
• Jeremiah 30:11For I am with you,’ says the Lord, ‘to save you; For I will destroy completely all the nations where I have scattered you, But I will not destroy you completely. But I will judge and discipline you fairly And will by no means regard you as guiltless and leave you unpunished.’
• Jeremiah 33:24“Have you not noticed what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families [Israel the northern kingdom, and Judah the southern kingdom] which the Lord chose, He has rejected’? Thus they despise My [chosen] people, no longer are they [considered] as a nation in their sight.
• Jeremiah 46:28Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the Lord, “For I am with you. For I will make a full and complete end of all the nations To which I have driven you; Yet I will not make a full end of you. But I will discipline and correct you appropriately And by no means will I declare you guiltless or leave you unpunished.”
• Amos 9:8Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful [northern] kingdom [of Israel’s ten tribes] And I shall destroy it from the face of the earth; But I shall not totally destroy the house of Jacob [that is, the entire nation of Israel],” Says the Lord.
• Matthew 16:18And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades (death) will not overpower it [by preventing the resurrection of the Christ].
• Matthew 24:22And if those days [of tribulation] had not been cut short, no human life would be saved; but for the sake of the elect (God’s chosen ones) those days will be shortened.
• Ezra 9:9For we are slaves; yet our God has not abandoned us in our bondage, but has extended lovingkindness to us before the kings of Persia, to revive us to rebuild the house of our God, to repair the site of its ruins and to give us a wall [of protection] in Judah and Jerusalem.
• Job 9:18He will not allow me to catch my breath, But fills and saturates me with bitterness.
• Esther 2:7He was the guardian of Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. The young woman was beautiful of form and face; and when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her in as his own daughter.
• Judges 14:15Then on the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Persuade your husband to tell us [through you] the [answer to the] riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s household with fire. Have you invited us to make us poor? Is this not true?”
• Judges 15:6Then the Philistines said, “Who did this?” And they were told, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he took Samson’s wife and gave her to his [chief] companion [at the wedding feast].” So the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire.

Commentaries on Esther 4:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14Then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise - He had a confidence that deliverance would come by some means; and he thought that Esther would be the most likely; and that, if she did not use the influence which her providential station gave her, she would be highly culpable. And who knoweth whether thou art come - As if he had said, "Is it likely that Divine providence would have so distinguished thee, and raised thee from a state of abject…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14From another place - i. e. “from some other quarter.” Mordecai probably concluded from the prophetic Scriptures that God would NOT allow His people to be destroyed before His purposes with respect to them were accomplished, and was therefore satisfied that deliverance would arise from one quarter or another. Thou and thy father‘s house shall be destroyed - i. e. “a divine vengeance will overtake thee and thine, if thou neglectest thy plain duty.” Though…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-17Verses 5-17 We are prone to shrink from services that are attended with peril or loss. But when the cause of Christ and his people demand it, we must take up our cross, and follow him. When Christians are disposed to consult their own ease or safety, rather than the public good, they should be blamed. The law was express, all knew it. It is not thus in the court of the King of kings: to the footstool of his throne of grace we may always come boldly, and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-14Do not imagine...you alone will escape: Mordecai did not back down or excuse her because of the danger. He reminded her that staying silent would be more dangerous. relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place: Mordecai knew God's promises and understood that God would not allow his chosen people to be destroyed (see Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 28:14; Isaiah 60:1–5). perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?: Esther's…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1413-14. Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther--His answer was to this effect, that Esther need not indulge the vain hope she would, from her royal connection, escape the general doom of her race--that he (Mordecai) confidently believed God would interpose, and, if not through her, by some other deliverer, save His people; but that the duty evidently devolved on her, as there was great reason to believe that this was the design of Providence in her…Read the comment

Topics related to Esther 4:14

• Faith
• Readings, Select

In the dictionaries

• Enlarge; Enlargement
• Esther, Book of

Commentaries on Esther 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings