So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.
Parallel translations
- WEB So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
- KJV So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
- BSB So Mordecai went and did all that Esther had instructed him.
- NASB So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.
- NLT So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Mordecai goes and does exactly as Esther directed. The roles have shifted, and now he submits to her leadership.
Overview
This verse marks a reversal: the one who had been instructing Esther now obeys her command, organizing the fast. It signals Esther's full assumption of her dangerous calling. The quiet obedience sets the stage for the dramatic confrontation to come, with the people united in fasting behind their queen.
Cross-references & the web
No cross-references recorded for this verse.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Though God is never named, his hidden hand preserves the people from whom the Messiah will come — a deliverance 'for such a time as this' that anticipates the open deliverance of Christ.
How Esther 4:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.