Esther 4 · Verse 14

Esther 4:14

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Esther 4:14, King James Version

Esther 4:14 in other translations

BSBFor if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
WEBFor if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
ASVFor if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father’s house will perish: and who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
YLTbut if thou keep entirely silent at this time, respite and deliverance remaineth to the Jews from another place, and thou and the house of thy fathers are destroyed; and who knoweth whether for a time like this thou hast come to the kingdom?'
DARBYFor if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there arise relief and deliverance to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall perish. And who knows whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
BBEIf at this time you say nothing, then help and salvation will come to the Jews from some other place, but you and your father's family will come to destruction: and who is to say that you have not come to the kingdom even for such a time as this?
WebsterFor if thou shalt altogether hold thy peace at this time, then will there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house will be destroyed: and who knoweth, whether thou hast come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

What does Esther 4:14 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Esther 4:13-14

13-14. Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther--His answer was to this effect, that Esther need not indulge the vain hope she would, from her royal connection, escape the general doom of her race--that he (Mordecai) confidently believed God would interpose, and, if not through her, by some other deliverer, save His people; but that the duty evidently devolved on her, as there was great reason to believe that this…

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Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 14 Then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise - He had a confidence that deliverance would come by some means; and he thought that Esther would be the most likely; and that, if she did not use the influence which her providential station gave her, she would be highly culpable. And who knoweth whether thou art come - As if he had said, "Is it likely that Divine providence would have so distinguished thee, and raised thee from a state of abject obscurity, merely for thy own sake? Must it not have been on some public account! Did not he see what was coming? and has he not put thee in the place where thou mayest counteract one of the most ruinous purposes ever formed?" Is there a human being who has not some particular station by an especial providence, at some particular time, in which he can be of some essential service to his neighbor, in averting evil or procuring good, if he be but faithful to the grace and opportunity afforded by this station? Who dares give a negative to these questions? We lose much, both in reference to ourselves and others, by not adverting to our providental situation and circumstances. While on this subject, I will give the reader two important sayings, from two eminent men, both keen observers of human nature, and deeply attentive in all such cases to the operations of Divine providence: - "To every thing there is a season; and a time to every purpose under heaven. Therefore withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it." Solomon. There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows, and in miseries. Shakespeare. Has there not been a case, within time of memory, when evil was designed against a whole people, through the Hamans who had poisoned the ears of well-intentioned men; in which one poor man, in consequence of a situation into which he was brought by an astonishing providence, used the influence which his situation gave him; and, by the mercy of his God, turned the whole evil aside? By the association of ideas the following passage will present itself to the reader's memory, who may have any acquaintance with the circumstance: - "There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man!" "Then said, I, Ah, Lord God! They say of me, Doth He Not Speak Parables?" Rem acu tetigi.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Esther 4:5-17

We are prone to shrink from services that are attended with peril or loss. But when the cause of Christ and his people demand it, we must take up our cross, and follow him. When Christians are disposed to consult their own ease or safety, rather than the public good, they should be blamed. The law was express, all knew it. It is not thus in the court of the King of kings: to the footstool of his throne of grace we…

Read the full comment on Esther 4:5-17 →

Esther 4:14 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כִּ֣יkithatH3588
אִם\־'im-exceptH518
הַחֲרֵ֣שׁha.cha.Reshcertainly <to keep quiet>H2790
תַּחֲרִישִׁי֮ta.cha.ri.Shiyou will keep quietH2790
בָּעֵ֣תba.'Etat the timeH6256
הַזֹּאת֒ha.zoT<the> thisH2063
רֶ֣וַחRe.vachreliefH7305
וְהַצָּלָ֞הve.ha.tza.Lahand deliveranceH2020
יַעֲמ֤וֹדya.'a.Modit will ariseH5975
לַיְּהוּדִים֙lai.ye.hu.Dimfor the JewsH3064
מִמָּק֣וֹםmi.ma.Komfrom a placeH4725
אַחֵ֔ר'a.CheranotherH312
וְאַ֥תְּve.'Atand youH859
וּבֵית\־u.veit-and [the] house ofH1004
אָבִ֖יךְ'a.Vikhfather yourH1
תֹּאבֵ֑דוּto.Ve.duyou will perishH6
וּמִ֣יu.Miand who?H4310
יוֹדֵ֔עַyo.De.a'[is] knowingH3045
אִם\־'im-ifH518
לְעֵ֣תle.'Etfor a timeH6256
כָּזֹ֔אתka.Zotlike thisH2063
הִגַּ֖עַתְּhi.Ga.'atyou have reachedH5060
לַמַּלְכֽוּת\׃la.mal.Khut<to> the queenhoodH4438

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Esther 4:14

  • Genesis 45:4-8

    And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. …

  • 1 Samuel 12:22

    For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people.

  • Deuteronomy 32:36

    For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

  • Isaiah 54:17

    No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

  • Jeremiah 30:11

    For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

  • Matthew 16:18

    And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

  • Acts 7:20-25

    In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months: And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. …

  • Ezra 9:9

    For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

  • Jeremiah 46:28

    Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.

  • Esther 2:15

    Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.

  • Numbers 23:22-24

    God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

  • Matthew 24:22

    And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
then shall.
Ge 22:14; Nu 23:22-24; De 32:26,27,36; 1Sa 12:22; Isa 54:17
Jer 30:11; 33:24-26; 46:28; Am 9:8,9; Mt 16:18; 24:22
enlargement. Heb. respiration.
Ezr 9:9; Job 9:18
but thou.
2:7,15; Jud 14:15-18; 15:6
whether.
Ge 45:4-8; Isa 45:1-5; 49:23; Ac 7:20-25
for such a time.
1Sa 17:29; 2Ki 19:3; Ne 6:11The fact related in this verse was unquestionably the reason why Esther was raised to regal honours, by the overruling providence of God: she was therefore bound in gratitude to do this service for God, else she would not have answered the end of her elevation: and she need not fear the miscarriage of the enterprise, for if God designed her for it, he would surely bear her through and give success. It appeared by the event that Mordecai spoke prophetically, when he modestly conjectured that Esther came to the kingdom that she might be the instrument of the Jews' deliverance. Mordecai thoroughly believed that it was a cause which one way or other would certainly be carried, and which, therefore, she might safely venture upon. Instruments might fail, but God's covenant cannot. There is a wise design in all the providences of God, which is unknown to us till it is accomplished; but it will prove in the issue that all is intended for and centre in the good of those who trust in Him.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Esther 4:13

    Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.

  • Esther 4:14

    For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

  • Esther 4:15

    Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,

Read all of Esther 4

Esther 4:14 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Porque si absolutamente callares en este tiempo, respiro y libertación tendrán los Judíos de otra parte; mas tú y la casa de tu padre pereceréis. ¿Y quién sabe si para esta hora te han hecho llegar al reino?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
car, si tu gardes le silence en ce temps-ci, le soulagement et la délivrance surgiront pour les Juifs d’autre part, mais toi et la maison de ton père vous périrez. Et qui sait si ce n’est pas pour un temps comme celui-ci que tu es parvenue à la royauté?
German
Elberfelder 1871
Denn wenn du in dieser Zeit irgend schweigst, so wird Befreiung und Errettung für die Juden von einem anderen Orte her erstehen; du aber und deines Vaters Haus, ihr werdet umkommen. Und wer weiß, ob du nicht für eine Zeit, wie diese, zum Königtum gelangt bist?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
si enim nunc silueris, per aliam occasionem liberabuntur Judæi: et tu, et domus patris tui, peribitis. Et quis novit utrum idcirco ad regnum veneris, ut in tali tempore parareris?