The interpretation timeline

Esth 4:8

How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.

From the early Church Fathers to now.

2 Reformed · 1 Methodist · 1 Catholic

Esth 4:8 · Douay-Rheims
“He gave him also a copy of the edict which was hanging up in Susan, that he should shew it to the queen, and admonish her to go in to the king, and to entreat him for her people.”
Post-Reformation c. 1650 – 1900
1771
A.D.
John Gill Reformed
1697–1771
“Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them,.... Which had now been published in the city; by which means Mordecai had had a sight of it, and had transcribed it; see Est 3:14 to show it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her; what Haman intended against the people of the Jews; as the Targum adds: and to charge her; in his name; whose charges she had always regarded, both before and since she was queen; or in the name of God: that she should go in unto the king to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people; signifying there was a necessity of doing it speedily, and of urging her request with great earnestness and importunity, since it was not the life of a single person, but the lives of a body of people, and her own, that lay at stake.”
Source
1832
A.D.
Adam Clarke Methodist
1762–1832
“That she should go in unto the king - The Greek adds, "Remember the time of your low estate, and in what manner you have been nourished, and carried in my arms; and that Haman, who is next to the king, has got a decree for our destruction. Pray, therefore, to the Lord, and plead with the king, that we may be delivered from death." But there is not a word of this either in the Hebrew, Syriac, or Vulgate.”
Source
1849
A.D.
1774–1849
“Entreat. Septuagint, “to put in a counter-petition, and entreat,” &c. — People. Septuagint add, “and country, remembering the days of thy lowly state, how thou wast fed by my hand; for Aman, the second after the king, has spoken against us, to have us destroyed. Call then upon the Lord, and speak to the king for us, and rescue us from death.” (Haydock) — This servant must have been very trusty, as the secret was confided to him, respecting the nation to which the queen belonged. (Menochius)”
Source
1871
A.D.
1871
“charge her that she should go in unto the king--This language is exceedingly strong. As it can scarcely be supposed that Mordecai was still using authority over Esther as his adopted daughter, he must be considered as imploring rather than commanding her, in the name of her brethren and in the name of her God, to make a direct appeal to the feelings of her royal husband.”
Source
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.