For how could I bear to see the disaster that would befall my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”
Parallel translations
- WEB For how can I endure to see the evil that would come to my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my relatives?”
- KJV For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?
- NKJV For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”
- NASB For how can I endure to see the disaster which will happen to my people, and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”
- NLT For how can I endure to see my people and my family slaughtered and destroyed?”
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
Esther asks how she could bear to watch the destruction of her people and kindred. Her plea flows from deep love and solidarity with them.
Overview
Esther's heartfelt words reveal that her concern is not personal safety but the survival of her people. Her identification with their suffering gives her appeal its moral force. This selfless intercession, refusing to look on while her people perish, reflects the compassion of the true Deliverer for those He came to save.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Esth 7:4For my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as menservants and maidservants, I would have remained silent, because no such distress would justify burdening the king.”
- Rom 10:1Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation.
- Rom 9:2–3I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
- Esth 9:1On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king’s command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them.
- Jer 4:19My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.
- Luke 19:41–42As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it
- Gen 44:34For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him.”
- Jer 9:1Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
- Neh 2:3and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 8:6 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.