Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.
Esther is shut away in the royal apartments. She has heard that Mordecai is mourning at the gate, but nobody has told her why — so she sends Hathach, her own attendant, out to bring back the reason.
A queen who knew nothing
Esther's question is genuine. Life inside the palace had sealed her off from the news that was shaking the whole empire, and her first attempt to help had already failed.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinEsther, in the secluded part of the palace, knew nothing of the great edict that had gone out. Her maids and chamberlains then told her that Mordecai was missing from inside the gate, and that he was sitting outside in a pitiful state, weeping and wailing. How this report must have shocked Esther! She was deeply grieved, and then sent clothing to Mordecai. This followed the Persian custom for mourning over the dead. The nearest relatives would send the mourner new garments to wear instead of sackcloth... Esther thought that someone in Mordecai's family had died. But Mordecai refused the garments, for he was not mourning over a death. This must have puzzled Esther still more. So she sent Hathach, one of the king's chamberlains, her personal attendant, to Mordecai to find out the cause of his mourning.
Sackcloth as a message
Mordecai meant the news to reach the queen. He refused the clothes because he was counting on her to bring deliverance.
William KellyOur chapter opens with the deep grief of Mordecai and of the Jews wherever the king's decree reached. The report of it soon reached the queen, as it was meant to do. Mordecai counted entirely on relief and deliverance coming through her. Until it came, he refused to take off his sackcloth and ashes, even when she asked him to.
A messenger in the dark
Hathach belonged to the king's household. The man carrying the question knew no more than the queen who sent him.
Leslie M. GrantShe sent Hathach, a eunuch of the king, to ask Mordecai the reason for his condition (v. 5). Even Hathach had not heard of the evil plot of Haman. Mordecai told him what had happened, and how Haman had promised to pay a large sum of money to have the Jews destroyed.
What lay behind the mourning
The answer waiting for Hathach was not a death in the family. A law nobody could reverse had condemned a whole people.
William KellyTheir doom was sealed. So it appeared. All the more because the Persian empire always held to one rule: a law once passed was never revoked — "according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked." Nothing then, it might seem, could have saved the people. The master of 127 provinces had given his royal word. He signed it with his seal and sent it out by couriers through the whole length and breadth of the empire. The day was fixed; the people named. Destruction seemed certain. But Mordecai tears his clothes and puts on sackcloth. He goes into the middle of the city and cries with a loud and bitter cry (Esther 4:1). And though God's name is not written and does not appear, God's ears heard all the same.
The question that ends her hiding
Esther's question will bring back more than news. Once she learns the cause, the origin she has kept hidden must come into the open.
H. L. RossierBut all this leads to this conclusion: Esther must now make herself known. The great tribulation will bring to light the character of the Jewish remnant. Until then Esther had remained hidden. Now, in this trial, her origin will appear in broad daylight. At the moment when God steps in, the nation will be publicly recognized.
Summary
- Hidden — Esther is cut off in the palace. She grieves for Mordecai without knowing what the decree says.
- Refused — Mordecai turns down the change of clothes. His sackcloth is a signal meant to reach the queen.
- Sent — Hathach, the king's attendant appointed to serve her, is the one link between the gate and the throne room. He too hears of the plot for the first time.
- Asked — Her two questions reach past the mourning to its cause: a sealed law that names a day and a people.
- Revealed — The answer will bring Esther out of hiding. God's name is never mentioned in the book, yet He hears the cry outside the gate.