Esther 4:10-12

C. Contingency

TEXT: Esther 4:10-12

10

Then Esther spake unto Hathach, and gave him a message unto Mordecai, saying:

11

All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court who is not called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.

12

And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.

Today's English Version, Esther 4:10-12

and Esther gave him this message to take back to Mordecai: If anyone, man or woman, goes to the inner courtyard and sees the king without being summoned, that person must die. That is the law; everyone, from the king's advisers to the people in the provinces, knows that. There is only one way to get around this law: if the king holds out his gold scepter to someone, then that person's life is spared. But it has been a month since the king sent for me.

COMMENTS

Esther 4:10-12 Esther's first reaction was to remind Mordecai of the widely known law of the Persian monarchs about approaching his presence without being given the emperor's personal permission to do so. It was not only widely known but widely respected! The law was that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king. who is not called. he be put to death, except those to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre. Herodotus confirmed the existence of such a law but wrote that were six persons to whom the law did not apply (III. 84. 118). In the bas reliefs and other inscriptions of the Persian ruins of Persepolis the Persian emperor is always pictured with a scepter (sharbith in Hebrew, meaning, rod, staff or club) in his hand. The purpose for this law was probably to protect the emperor from assassination and from trivial and inane audiences with every Persian who might have an axe to grind. Whatever the case, the law had its desired effect; it inspired fear of approaching the monarch unless bidden by the monarch himself to do so. Esther's immediate concern was fear for her life. It is not until Mordecai's sharp rebuke that Esther begins to consider the consequences of opting for her own personal safety.