He came even before the king’s gate, for no one is allowed inside the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.
Parallel translations
- KJV And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.
- BSB But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because the law prohibited anyone wearing sackcloth from entering that gate.
- NKJV He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.
- NASB And he came as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.
- NLT He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning.
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 comes to the king's gate but cannot enter wearing sackcloth. His mourning is barred from the seat of royal comfort.
Overview
Court protocol forbade signs of grief near the king, so Mordecai's sorrow stops at the gate. The detail shows a regime insulated from the suffering it causes. It also sets up the need for Esther to act as the bridge between the mourning of her people and the throne, the very role God has prepared her to play.
Cross-references & the web
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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 4:2 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
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