Esther 4:1-3

[1] When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; [2] And came even before the king's gate: for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. [3] And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

What is the context of Esther 4:1-3?

Esther Learns of Haman’s Plot (Esther 4:1-14 true)
Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help (Esther 4:1-17 true)
Mordecai Seeks Esther’s Help (Esther 4:1-17 true)
Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help (Esther 4:1-17 true)
Mordecai Tells Esther of Haman’s Plot (Esther 4:1-17 true)
Mordecai Appeals to Esther (Esther 4:1-17 true)
Esther Agrees to Help the Jews (Esther 4:1-17 true)

What does Esther 4:1-3 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

We can understand why Mordecai reacted to Haman"s decree so strongly ( Esther 4:1). Undoubtedly he felt personally responsible for this decree (cf. Esther 3:2-5). However, we should not interpret Mordecai"s actions in Esther 4:1 as a sign of great faith in God necessarily (cf. Mark 5:38; 1 Thessalonians 4:13). They were common expressions of personal grief (cf. Ezra 8:21; Ezra 8:23; Nehemiah 9:1; Lamentations 3:40-66).

The absence of any reference to prayer in Esther 4:3 may be significant. Prayer normally accompanied the other practices mentioned (cf. 2 Kings 19:1-4; Joel 1:14). Perhaps many of these exiled Jews had gotten so far away from God that they did not even pray in this crisis hour. However, the basis of this argument is silence, and arguments based on silence are never strong.