Esther 4:2 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

And came even before the king's gate That his cry might come to the ears of Esther: for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth He durst not take his place in the gate, nor sit there as he had hitherto done, because none that were in mourning might come thither, lest it should give the king any occasion of grief and trouble. But what availed to keep out the badges of sorrow, unless they could have kept out the causes of sorrow too? To forbid sackcloth to enter, unless they could likewise forbid sickness, and trouble, and death?