What Does Esther 4:1 Mean in the King James?

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;

Esther 4:1 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Mordecai’s cry is doubled in Hebrew, he “cries out an outcry”, while his torn garment gives that rupture a public form.

THE MEANING

Perceiving what has been done makes grief impossible to keep abstract: it tears through clothing, enters the city, and rises as a bitter cry. Pain becomes visible and audible, where the whole city can encounter it.

THE ROOT

וַיִּזְעַק

vayiz'aq

GROWS FROM

זעק

to cry out, especially to call out under distress

“cried” in this verse is vayiz'aq. The verse follows the verb with ⁨זְעָקָה⁩, a noun from the same root: he cries out an outcry. Hebrew lets the cry echo itself, making distress a public appeal rather than an unspoken feeling.

ALSO GROWS

za'aq: to cry out or call for help

זָעַק

This is the verb behind Mordecai’s cry; it presents his sound as a call rising from distress.

ze'aqah: an outcry, a cry for help

זְעָקָה

This noun immediately follows the verb in Esther, repeating the root and intensifying the outcry.

וַיִּקְרַע

vayyiqraʿ

GROWS FROM

קרע

to tear, rend, or split apart

“rent” in this verse is vayyiqraʿ. The same verb can describe tearing a garment and tearing a kingdom apart. Here the garment’s rupture makes grief visible in the city.

ALSO GROWS

qaraʿ: to tear or rend; used of tearing a kingdom in 1 Kings 11:11

קָרַע

The verb reaches beyond fabric to name a larger rupture, giving the torn garment weight beyond its material.

qeri'ah: rending or the act of tearing

קְרִיעָה

This noun names the physical gesture that gives Mordecai’s grief an outward form.

וּמָרָה

umarah

GROWS FROM

מרר

to be bitter or become embittered

The cry is not only loud; its bitterness names the taste of affliction. The same root appears in the bitter herbs of the Passover meal, linking bitterness with a people’s remembered suffering.

ALSO GROWS

marar: to be bitter or embittered

מָרַר

This root shows bitterness as a condition that takes hold, not simply a loudness of voice.

merorim: bitter herbs, as in Exodus 12:8

מְרֹרִים

The root gives bitterness a taste, letting Mordecai’s cry echo the language of affliction.

THE PATTERN

A cry brings concealed pressure into public hearing.

And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

Exodus 3:7 · KJVThe cry of people under taskmasters makes their affliction audible to the LORD.

For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.

Jeremiah 20:8 · KJVThe prophet’s cry names violence and spoil openly.

And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Revelation 6:10 · KJVThe slain make the violence against them audible and ask when justice will come.

THE THREAD

And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Joel 2:13 · KJV

The Hebrew verb translated “rend” is the same root, ⁨קרע⁩ (qaraʿ), as Mordecai’s “rent” clothing. Esther shows grief tearing the garment in public; Joel uses that same tearing for the heart, placing outward rupture and inward rupture within one image.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us