Rashi
Jewish
1040–1105
“the king’s orders and his edict When the couriers carrying the letters passed, the edict was given in the city.”
The interpretation timeline
Esth 4:3
How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.
From the early Church Fathers to now.
1 Jewish · 1 Reformed · 1 Methodist · 1 Catholic
Esth 4:3 · Douay-Rheims
“And in all provinces, towns, and places, to which the king’s cruel edict was come, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, wailing, and weeping, many using sackcloth and ashes for their bed.”
Scholastic
c. 1100 – 1500
1105
A.D.
666 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Post-Reformation
c. 1650 – 1900
1771
A.D.
John Gill
Reformed
1697–1771
“And in every province whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came,.... For destroying the Jews on such a day, in every place where they were to be found: there was great mourning among the Jews, and weeping, and wailing; which continued all day: and many lay in sackcloth and ashes: all night; made use of no other bed to lie on, nor clothes to cover them with.”
1832
A.D.
Adam Clarke
Methodist
1762–1832
“Fasting, and weeping, and wailing - How astonishing, that in all this there is not the slightest intimation given of praying to God!”
1849
A.D.
George Leo Haydock
Catholic
1774–1849
“Edict. Literally, “dogma;” (Haydock) a word used in this sense, (Acts xv. 16.) and by Demosthenes, &c. (Tirinus) — Mourning. The most effectual means of redress, is to do works of penance for past transgressions, 1 Corinthians xi. 31. (Worthington)”
Modern · 1953 →
The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.