Esther 4:14

Context

After Haman schemes to have the Persian king Ahasuerus issue a decree to kill all the Jews in the empire, Mordecai urges his cousin Esther, who has become queen, to go to the king and plead for her people. Esther hesitates, explaining that anyone who approaches the king without being summoned may be put to death (Esther 4:11). This verse is Mordecai's reply. He warns that even if Esther remains silent, deliverance will come to the Jews "from another place," but that she and her father's house will perish, and he then asks whether she has come to the kingdom "for such a time as this": "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 calls for a fast and answers, "if I perish, I perish" (Esther 4:16), resolving to go before the king.

Interpretation

• A providential reading: The name of God never appears in the Hebrew text of the Book of Esther. Many commentators and preachers see a hint of God's hidden providence in the phrase "from another place" and in the question "who knoweth." Some support this reading by noting that in later Judaism the word "place" (Hebrew maqom) came to be used as a designation for God.
• A vocational reading: Esther's becoming queen is read not as personal good fortune but as a position to be used for the sake of the community. This reading leads to the application that one's own position or occupation is a calling given by God.
• A reading as human warning: Some scholars take "another place" to mean help from other people or powers, and they read the verse less as a theological statement than as political persuasion urging decisive action in a crisis.

Controversies and Issues

Differences in textual tradition: Protestants accept as canonical the Hebrew Book of Esther as preserved in the Masoretic Text. The Greek Book of Esther in the Septuagint, by contrast, contains additions that refer to God directly, including prayers of Mordecai and Esther, and the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church also accept these portions as Scripture. Providential interpretations based on the absence of God's name therefore generally presuppose the Hebrew text.

Quotation out of context: Some have observed that the verse is used to justify a promotion, an election victory, or appointment to a particular position. Critics of this usage emphasize that Mordecai's words are not an assurance but a question ("who knoweth"), and that Esther's position was a summons to risk her life on behalf of the community.

In the Korean Church

The phrase "for such a time as this" is frequently used as the theme text for sermons at dedication services, youth retreats, and services of ordination or commissioning. The words of Esther 4:16 that immediately follow, "if I perish, I perish," are also widely known as the title of the memoir If I Perish by Ahn Ei-sook, who was imprisoned for refusing to participate in Shinto shrine worship.

Related Passages

• Esther 4:16
• Genesis 45:5-8
• Romans 8:28
• Proverbs 16:1-3