Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Story format

Character development

Problem developed

Events leading up to the Climax

Climax of the story

Resolution of the problem

Happy Ending

Problem

Haman hatched a plan to get revenge on Mordecai for not bowing to him, by destroying all the Jewish people in the empire of Persia.

Haman deceptively convinced the King to give him authority to accomplish his plan.

The king agrees and gives Haman his signet ring and the authority to do as he saw fit.

Haman, using the King’s scribes and name, sends out an edict to all providences of the empire for all the Jews in the empire to be killed on the 13th day of the 12th month.

Esther 3:15 (ESV)

The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.

And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.

Distress of the Jews (4:1-3)

Esther 4:1–3 (ESV)

1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. 2 He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

3 And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Distress of Mordecai (1-2)

Deep Grief (1)

Esther 4:1 (ESV)

1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

TEARING OF CLOTHES (hבְּגָדִים קְרִיעַת, begadim qeri'ath).

An action used to show mourning or repentance.

Reuben (Gen 37:29), the sons of Jacob (Gen 44:13), and a messenger to Eli (1 Sam 4:12) all tore their clothes to express deep sorrow as a result of death or calamity.

David tore his garments in response to a report that Absalom had murdered his brothers (2 Sam 13:31).

The act also symbolized indignation (Num 14:6).

The high priest tore his clothes when Jesus spoke what he thought was blasphemy (Matt 26:65).

(Barry, John D. et al., eds.

“Tearing of Clothes.”

The Lexham Bible Dictionary 2016: n. pag.

Print.)

“SACKCLOTH (שַׂק, saq; σάκκος, sakkos).

A rough cloth made from animal hair, usually that of a goat or camel.

In both Greek and ancient Near Eastern literature, it refers to a type of material used in various household duties such as the construction of clothing and sacks; the word can also refer to the clothing or sack itself.

In the ancient Near East, the use of a garment made of sackcloth came to symbolize sorrow or submission.

The Hebrew and Greek words undoubtedly share a common etymology.

(Estes, Douglas.

“Sackcloth.”

Ed.

John D. Barry et al.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary 2016: n. pag.

Print.)

“outcry n. — a loud utterance accusing someone or a group of people of wrong.

(Biblical Sense)

Mordecai is expressing deep grief over the news of the Kings decree.

King’s Gate (2)

Esther 4:2 (ESV)

2 He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

Mordecai went to the King’s Gate to lament the decree of the King.

“King’s gate (2:19).

The reference here is to the main entrance to the upper city, located in its eastern wall.

This gate was excavated in the 1970s.

It was a massive structure, more than 130 feet wide and 90 feet deep.

There were side rooms to the north and south off the main entrance where meetings could be held or troops stationed.

Frequently, business of the state was conducted at the city gates, ...” (ZIBBC, Vol 3, pg.

485)

“Men who “sat at the gate” were frequently elders and leading, respected citizens who settled disputes that were brought to them.”

(Expositor’s Bible Commentary Vol 4, pg.

810)

“Given the self-indulgence of the Persian monarchs, it seems in character that they would prohibit their subjects from imposing grief on them.

Herodotus writes of people with complaints gathering outside the king’s gate and wailing without bringing their trouble within the palace.”

(Keener, Craig S., and John H. Walton, eds.

NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture.

Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016.

Print.)

Wailing at the King’s gate was common for people seeking justice.

The King seems to have set people in official positions to deal with these complaints for the King.

According to 2:19, Mordecai was one of the official workers at the King’s gate.

Now, Mordecai wails at the King’s gate because of the decree the King issued.

Distress of the Jews (3)

Esther 4:3 (ESV)

3 And in every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

As the decree of the King spreads throughout the Empire, the Jewish lament.

Dialogue between Esther and Mordecai (4:4-11)

Esther’s response to Mordecai’s grief (4-5)

Esther 4:4–5 (ESV)

4 When Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed.

She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

5 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.

Distressed (4a)

She is deeply affected by hearing the Mordecai (Father) tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.

(vs. 1)

“to be in anguish ⇔ writhe v., to be in a state of anguish, conceived of as writhing.

(The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag.

Print.)

The word is an unusual form of the verb hyl, which is used to describe a physical response to pain or anguish.

(Reid, Debra.