When Mordecai perceived all that was done,.... By the king, at the instigation of Haman, against the Jews; which he came to the knowledge of, either by some of the conflicts or by common fame, or on the sight of the edicts which were published in Shushan; though the Jews think it was made known to him in a supernatural way, either by Elijah, as the former Targum x, or by the Holy Ghost, as the latter:
Mordecai rent his clothes: both behind and before, according to the same Targum; and this was a custom used in mourning, not only with the Jews, but with the Persians also, as Herodotus y relates:
and put on sackcloth with ashes; upon his head, as the former Targum; which was usual in mourning, even both; Job 2:12
and went out into the midst of the city; not Elam the province, as Aben Ezra, but the city Shushan:
and cried with a loud and bitter cry; that all the Jews in the city might be alarmed by it, and inquire the reason of it, and be affected with it; and a clamorous mournful noise was used among the Persians, as well as others, on sad occasions z.
x So Midrash Esther, fol. 94. 1. y Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. ----. Urania, sive, l. 8. c. 99. z Calliope, sive, l. 9. c. 24.