New King James Version
Esther 4:14
14For 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?”
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 Living Translation (NLT)If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
Context of Esther 4:14
12So they told Mordecai Esther’s words. 13And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 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?” 15Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: 16“Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
Read all of Esther 4Esther 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 22:14And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
- Numbers 23:22God brings them out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox.
- Deuteronomy 32:26I would have said, “I will dash them in pieces, I will make the memory of them to cease from among men,”
- 1 Samuel 12:22For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people.
- Isaiah 54:17No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 30:11For I am with you,’ says the Lord, ‘to save you; Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, Yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, And will not let you go altogether unpunished.’
- Jeremiah 33:24“Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the Lord has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus they have despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them.
- Jeremiah 46:28Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the Lord, “For I am with you; For I will make a complete end of all the nations To which I have driven you, But I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you, For I will not leave you wholly unpunished.”
- Amos 9:8“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” Says the Lord.
- Matthew 16:18And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
- Matthew 24:22And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
- Ezra 9:9For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
- Job 9:18He will not allow me to catch my breath, But fills me with bitterness.
- Esther 2:7And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
- Judges 14:15But it came to pass on the seventh day that they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may explain the riddle to us, or else we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us in order to take what is ours? Is that not so?”
- Judges 15:6Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they answered, “Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.” 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
In the dictionaries
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries