John Trapp on Esther 4:3

Verſe 3. And in every Province] Heb. In every Province, and Province, &c. not only in Suſan (which (ſay the Hebrewes) was called Elam Hammedina) but throughout the Kings dominions.

Whither ſoever the Kings Commandment and his Decree] The latter was irrevocable, and therefore more dreadful.

There was great mourning among the Jewes] Not murmuring or mutinying, or meditating revenge againſt the King and Haman, Not caſting away their confidence in God, or committing all to fate and blind fortune. Not crying out of Religion as unhappy to the Profeſſours ([non-Latin text not transcribed], ſaid he in the ſtory. O miſerable vertue! O practice of no profit,Brutus apud Di[illegible: 2 letters]. &c.) Not taking up armes or betaking themſelves to flight (how ſhould poor gally ſlaves at this day flie out of the middle of (Turkie?) prayers and tears were the weapons of theſe condemn'd captives caitives. It troubled them exceedingly, (as well it might) that through fearfulneſſe and negligence they had not, ere this, gone back to their own countrey, with Zerubabel or ſome other, when they had good leave to have gone with their brethren, and God himſelf cried out unto them, Hoc, hoe, come forth, &c. Zach. 2.6. Mich[illegible: 1 letter]. 10. Ariſe, [illegible: 1 span] your reſt, becauſe it is polluted▪ it ſhall deſtroy you, even with a ſore deſtruction. This was now a [illegible: 1 word] their hearts: like as it ſhall be one day to thoſe in hell, to think we might have been delivered.

And faſting] The word ſignifieth an abſtinence from food and ſuſtenance, either à toto, as 2 Sam. 12.16. Or at leaſt à tanto & à tali, as Dan. 10.2, 3. Hence it is called a day of reſtraint, Joel 2.15. Hence Zech. 8.19. they ſeparated themſelves, viz. from work, meat and delights, for the furtherance of their repentance, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. and the enforcing of their prayers. Preces nobis jejunits alendum, & quaſi ſaginandum, ſaith one, our prayers muſt be pampered and corne-fed with faſting. A practice in uſe, not among Jewes and Chriſtians only, but among Egyptian Prieſts, Perſian Magi, and Indian wizards of old, and Turks to this day when they are in any great feare or preſſure.

And weeping and wailing] This was the way to get in with God, though they might not come crying to the Court. Oh the divine Rhetorick and omnipotent efficacy of penitent teares! Pſal. 6.8. Weeping hath a voice. Chriſt turned to the weeping women, when going to his Croſſe, and comforted them. He ſhewed great reſpects to Mary Magdalene, that weeping Vine; ſhe had the firſt ſight of the revived Phoenix. (though ſo bleared that ſhe could ſcarce diſcerne him) and held him faſt by thoſe feet which ſhe had once waſhed with her tears, and wherewith he had lately trod upon the lion and adder, Pſal. 91.13.

And many lay in ſackcloth and aſhes] As many as were more deeply affected with their ſins, and the ſad conſequents thereof. David lay on the bare ground, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. 2 Sam. 12.16. theſe and thoſe, Joel 1.13. lodged in ſackcloth and aſhes, that they might watch as well as faſt: ſee how they go linked together, Mark. 13.33. See verſe 17.