Mordecai
모르드개
Named at Esther 2:5: “There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,” and 2:6 goes on, “who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.” The Korean Revised Version makes Mordecai the one carried away (모르드개도 함께 사로잡혔더라, Mordecai too was carried away). At 2:7 Mordecai (WEB “He”) brings up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, and when her father and mother were dead, “Mordecai took her for his own daughter” (the Korean Revised Version: 자기 딸 같이 양육하더라, brought her up like his own daughter). At 2:10–11 Esther does not make known her people nor her relatives, because Mordecai had instructed her, and Mordecai walks every day in front of the court of the women’s house; at 2:21–22, while Mordecai sits in the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh seek to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus, and the thing becomes known to Mordecai, who informs Esther the queen. At 3:2–6 Mordecai doesn’t bow down or pay homage to Haman, and has told the king’s servants that he is a Jew, and Haman seeks to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai’s people. At 4:1–17 Mordecai tears his clothes and puts on sackcloth with ashes; gives the copy of the decree to Hathach (WEB “him”, 4:8) to show it to Esther; asks them to return this answer to Esther, “For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”; and does according to all that Esther had commanded him. Esther 6:10–12 says that, as the king told Haman, Haman arrayed Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate, had him ride through the city square and proclaimed before him, and that Mordecai came back to the king’s gate; 8:1–2, that Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her, and that the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; 8:9–15, that “it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the local governors, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia”, and that Mordecai went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and the city of Susa shouted and was glad; 9:3–4, that all the princes of the provinces helped the Jews, “because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them,” and that his fame went out throughout all the provinces; 9:20–23, that Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews to keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly, and that the Jews accepted the custom as Mordecai had written to them; and 10:2–3 asks whether the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, isn’t written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia, and says, “For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and accepted by the multitude of his brothers.”
Direct relationships 23
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Source-backed narrative relations; not independent historical verification. Legacy dates and coordinates are outside this review.
Collection & rightsSource evidence (26)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- EST 2:5–7, engwebp
5There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,
6who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
7He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter; for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.
- EST 2:8–11, engwebp
8So, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together to the citadel of Susa, to the custody of Hegai, Esther was taken into the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.
9The maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness from him. He quickly gave her cosmetics and her portions of food, and the seven choice maidens who were to be given her out of the king’s house. He moved her and her maidens to the best place in the women’s house.
10Esther had not made known her people nor her relatives, because Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make it known.
11Mordecai walked every day in front of the court of the women’s house, to find out how Esther was doing, and what would become of her.
- EST 2:15–18, engwebp
15Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, came to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the keeper of the women, advised. Esther obtained favor in the sight of all those who looked at her.
16So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal house in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
17The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she obtained favor and kindness in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.
18Then the king made a great feast for all his princes and his servants, even Esther’s feast; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces, and gave gifts according to the king’s bounty.
- EST 2:19–20, engwebp
19When the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate.
20Esther had not yet made known her relatives nor her people, as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther obeyed Mordecai, like she did when she was brought up by him.
- EST 2:21–23, engwebp
21In those days, while Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, who were doorkeepers, were angry, and sought to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.
22This thing became known to Mordecai, who informed Esther the queen; and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name.
23When this matter was investigated, and it was found to be so, they were both hanged on a gallows; and it was written in the book of the chronicles in the king’s presence.
- EST 3:1–6, engwebp
1After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes who were with him.
2All the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai didn’t bow down or pay him homage.
3Then the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s commandment?”
4Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he didn’t listen to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.
5When Haman saw that Mordecai didn’t bow down nor pay him homage, Haman was full of wrath.
6But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai’s people. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai’s people.
- EST 4:1–3, engwebp
1Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, and wailed loudly and bitterly.
2He came even before the king’s gate, for no one is allowed inside the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.
3In every province, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
- EST 4:4–9, engwebp
4Esther’s maidens and her eunuchs came and told her this, and the queen was exceedingly grieved. She sent clothing to Mordecai, to replace his sackcloth, but he didn’t receive it.
5Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, whom he had appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai, to find out what this was, and why it was.
6So Hathach went out to Mordecai, to the city square which was before the king’s gate.
7Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.
8He also gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given out in Susa to destroy them, to show it to Esther, and to declare it to her, and to urge her to go in to the king to make supplication to him, and to make request before him for her people.
9Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
- EST 4:10–12, engwebp
10Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to Mordecai:
11“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that whoever, whether man or woman, comes to the king into the inner court without being called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king might hold out the golden scepter, that he may live. I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”
12They told Esther’s words to Mordecai.
- EST 4:13–14, engwebp
13Then Mordecai asked them to return this answer to Esther: “Don’t think to yourself that you will escape in the king’s house any more than all the Jews.
14For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
- EST 4:15–17, engwebp
15Then Esther asked them to answer Mordecai,
16“Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Susa, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.”
17So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
- EST 5:9–14, engwebp
9Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he didn’t stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.
10Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home. There, he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife.
11Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
12Haman also said, “Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king.
13Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”
14Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet.” This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.
- EST 6:1–3, engwebp
1On that night, the king couldn’t sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king.
2It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.
3The king said, “What honor and dignity has been given to Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”
- EST 6:4–9, engwebp
4The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king’s house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
5The king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman stands in the court.” The king said, “Let him come in.”
6So Haman came in. The king said to him, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman said in his heart, “Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?”
7Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor,
8let royal clothing be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of which a royal crown is set.
9Let the clothing and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man whom the king delights to honor with them, and have him ride on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’”
- EST 6:10–11, engwebp
10Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.”
11Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!”
- EST 6:12–14, engwebp
12Mordecai came back to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered.
13Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him.”
14While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
- EST 7:7–10, engwebp
7The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden. Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen, for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
8Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
9Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king, said, “Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman’s house.” The king said, “Hang him on it!”
10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.
- EST 8:1–2, engwebp
1On that day, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her.
2The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
- EST 8:7–8, engwebp
7Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, “See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he laid his hand on the Jews.
8Write also to the Jews as it pleases you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring; for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may not be reversed by any man.”
- EST 8:9–14, engwebp
9Then the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month Sivan, on the twenty-third day of the month; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the local governors, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing, and in their language.
10He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by courier on horseback, riding on royal horses that were bred from swift steeds.
11In those letters, the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather themselves together and to defend their lives—to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish all the power of the people and province that would assault them, their little ones and women, and to plunder their possessions,
12on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
13A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that the Jews should be ready for that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
14So the couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment. The decree was given out in the citadel of Susa.
- EST 8:15–17, engwebp
15Mordecai went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple; and the city of Susa shouted and was glad.
16The Jews had light, gladness, joy, and honor.
17In every province and in every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness, joy, a feast and a holiday. Many from among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen on them.
- EST 9:1–5, engwebp
1Now in the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the month, when the king’s commandment and his decree came near to be put in execution, on the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to conquer them, (but it turned out that the opposite happened, that the Jews conquered those who hated them),
2the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, to lay hands on those who wanted to harm them. No one could withstand them, because the fear of them had fallen on all the people.
3All the princes of the provinces, the local governors, the governors, and those who did the king’s business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.
4For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew greater and greater.
5The Jews struck all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and with slaughter and destruction, and did what they wanted to those who hated them.
- EST 9:20–22, engwebp
20Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
21to enjoin them that they should keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly,
22as the days in which the Jews had rest from their enemies, and the month which was turned to them from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, and of sending presents of food to one another, and gifts to the needy.
- EST 9:23–28, engwebp
23The Jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them,
24because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast “Pur”, that is the lot, to consume them and to destroy them;
25but when this became known to the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked plan, which he had planned against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
26Therefore they called these days “Purim”, from the word “Pur.” Therefore because of all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and that which had come to them,
27the Jews established and imposed on themselves, on their descendants, and on all those who joined themselves to them, so that it should not fail that they would keep these two days according to what was written and according to its appointed time every year;
28and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor their memory perish from their offspring.
- EST 9:29–32, engwebp
29Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim.
30He sent letters to all the Jews in the hundred twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus with words of peace and truth,
31to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves and their descendants in the matter of the fastings and their mourning.
32The commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.
- EST 10:1–3, engwebp
1King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea.
2Aren’t all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?
3For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his descendants.
AI-assisted, human review pending, 2026-09-26
Machine comparison on 2026-10-07: the wording raised none of the 3 rules against the passages this entry cites. No person has read it.
Unresolved interpretation: Mordecai of Ezra 2:2 and Mordecai of Esther 2:5
- Ezra 2:1–2 says, “Now these are the children of the province who went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city; who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.”
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- EZR 2:1–2, engwebp
1Now these are the children of the province who went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city;
2who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:
- EZR 2:1–2, engwebp
- Nehemiah 7:6–7 says, “These are the children of the province who went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, everyone to his city, who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah.”
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- NEH 7:6–7, engwebp
6These are the children of the province who went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, everyone to his city,
7who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:
- NEH 7:6–7, engwebp
- Esther 2:5–6 says, “There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.” The Korean Revised Version says that Mordecai was carried away (모르드개도 함께 사로잡혔더라).
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- EST 2:5–7, engwebp
5There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,
6who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
7He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter; for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.
- EST 2:5–7, engwebp
Ezra 2:2 and Nehemiah 7:7 each name a Mordecai among those who came with Zerubbabel, and give no father and no office. Esther 2:5 names Mordecai, a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa, the son of Jair, and at 2:6 the Korean Revised Version says that Mordecai too was carried away with Jeconiah. The text does not say whether the Mordecai of Ezra 2:2 or the Mordecai of Nehemiah 7:7 is Mordecai the son of Jair. This collection links the Mordecai of each roster to no entry and records each only as a name of its roster, and does not decide whether any of them is the same man.
All 23 relationships: AI-assisted, human review pending
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Jair (father of Mordecai) — Father of — Mordecai
Evidence: Esther 2:5–7
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Mordecai — Nephew of — Abihail (father of Esther)
Evidence: Esther 2:15–18
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Took part in (21) — Mordecai, a Jew in the citadel of Susa, brings up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, Esther is taken into the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women, Mordecai sits in the king’s gate, and Esther does not make known her relatives nor her people, Bigthan and Teresh, the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, seek to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus and are both hanged on a gallows, King Ahasuerus promotes Haman, and Mordecai doesn’t bow down or pay him homage, Mordecai tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth with ashes, and wails loudly and bitterly in the middle of the city, Esther calls for Hathach and commands him to go to Mordecai, to find out what this was, Esther sends word to Mordecai of the one law for whoever comes to the king without being called, Mordecai answers Esther not to think that she will escape in the king’s house any more than all the Jews, Esther answers Mordecai to gather all the Jews who are present in Susa and fast for her, Haman is filled with wrath against Mordecai in the king’s gate, and, pleased with the words of Zeresh his wife and all his friends, has the gallows made, Haman arrays Mordecai, has him ride through the city square, and proclaims before him, Mordecai comes back to the king’s gate, and Haman hurries home mourning and recounts everything to Zeresh his wife and all his friends, King Ahasuerus gives the house of Haman to Esther the queen, and the king gives Mordecai the ring he had taken from Haman, King Ahasuerus tells Esther the queen and Mordecai the Jew to write to the Jews as it pleases them, in the king’s name, The king’s scribes are called and it is written according to all that Mordecai commanded, and the couriers ride out on royal horses, Mordecai goes out of the presence of the king in royal clothing, and the city of Susa shouts and is glad, On the thirteenth day of Adar the Jews gather themselves together and strike their enemies, and the princes of the provinces help the Jews for fear of Mordecai, Mordecai writes these things and sends letters to all the Jews, to keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly, Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew write with all authority to confirm the second letter of Purim, King Ahasuerus lays a tribute, and Mordecai the Jew is next to King Ahasuerus
A relationship with an event rests on the passages the event cites: each event’s page has them.
Verses tagged with this entry
Names in the World English Bible text that carry this entry’s tag. They are carried over from the tags on the Korean Revised Version, which are matched by name inside chapters that already have collected evidence, and a verse where the English says “he” carries none. All await human review. They are a separate list from the source passages above. An empty list does not mean the entry is absent from the text.
There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,
He brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter; for she had neither father nor mother. The maiden was fair and beautiful; and when her father and mother were dead, Mordecai took her for his own daughter.
Esther had not made known her people nor her relatives, because Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make it known.
Mordecai walked every day in front of the court of the women’s house, to find out how Esther was doing, and what would become of her.
Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, came to go in to the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the keeper of the women, advised. Esther obtained favor in the sight of all those who looked at her.
When the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate.
Esther had not yet made known her relatives nor her people, as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther obeyed Mordecai, like she did when she was brought up by him.
In those days, while Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, who were doorkeepers, were angry, and sought to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.
This thing became known to Mordecai, who informed Esther the queen; and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name.
All the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai didn’t bow down or pay him homage.
Then the king’s servants who were in the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s commandment?”
Now it came to pass, when they spoke daily to him, and he didn’t listen to them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.
When Haman saw that Mordecai didn’t bow down nor pay him homage, Haman was full of wrath.
But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai’s people. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai’s people.
Now when Mordecai found out all that was done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, and wailed loudly and bitterly.
Esther’s maidens and her eunuchs came and told her this, and the queen was exceedingly grieved. She sent clothing to Mordecai, to replace his sackcloth, but he didn’t receive it.
Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, whom he had appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai, to find out what this was, and why it was.
So Hathach went out to Mordecai, to the city square which was before the king’s gate.
Mordecai told him of all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.
Hathach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a message to Mordecai:
They told Esther’s words to Mordecai.
Then Mordecai asked them to return this answer to Esther: “Don’t think to yourself that you will escape in the king’s house any more than all the Jews.
Then Esther asked them to answer Mordecai,
So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.
Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he didn’t stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.
Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”
Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet.” This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.
It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.
The king said, “What honor and dignity has been given to Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”
The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king’s house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.”
Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!”
Mordecai came back to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered.
Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him.”
Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king, said, “Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman’s house.” The king said, “Hang him on it!”
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.
On that day, King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, to Esther the queen. Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was to her.
The king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, “See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he laid his hand on the Jews.
Then the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month Sivan, on the twenty-third day of the month; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the local governors, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia, one hundred twenty-seven provinces, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language, and to the Jews in their writing, and in their language.
Mordecai went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple; and the city of Susa shouted and was glad.
All the princes of the provinces, the local governors, the governors, and those who did the king’s business helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them.
For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew greater and greater.
Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the King Ahasuerus, both near and far,
The Jews accepted the custom that they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them,
Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim.
to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had decreed, and as they had imposed upon themselves and their descendants in the matter of the fastings and their mourning.
Aren’t all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?
For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his descendants.
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[Bibliadatum entry report] Entry: Mordecai (person-mordecai) Address: https://bibliadatum.org/en/wiki/person/mordecai Current wording: Named at Esther 2:5: “There was a certain Jew in the citadel of Susa whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite,” and 2:6 goes on, “who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.” The Korean Revised Version makes Mordecai the one carried away (모르드개도 함께 사로잡혔더라, Mordecai too was carried away). At 2:7 Mordecai (WEB “He”) brings up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, and when her father and mother were dead, “Mordecai took her for his own daughter” (the Korean Revised Version: 자기 딸 같이 양육하더라, brought her up like his own daughter). At 2:10–11 Esther does not make known her people nor her relatives, because Mordecai had instructed her, and Mordecai walks every day in front of the court of the women’s house; at 2:21–22, while Mordecai sits in the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh seek to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus, and the thing becomes known to Mordecai, who informs Esther the queen. At 3:2–6 Mordecai doesn’t bow down or pay homage to Haman, and has told the king’s servants that he is a Jew, and Haman seeks to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai’s people. At 4:1–17 Mordecai tears his clothes and puts on sackcloth with ashes; gives the copy of the decree to Hathach (WEB “him”, 4:8) to show it to Esther; asks them to return this answer to Esther, “For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”; and does according to all that Esther had commanded him. Esther 6:10–12 says that, as the king told Haman, Haman arrayed Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate, had him ride through the city square and proclaimed before him, and that Mordecai came back to the king’s gate; 8:1–2, that Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her, and that the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; 8:9–15, that “it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the local governors, and the governors and princes of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia”, and that Mordecai went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and the city of Susa shouted and was glad; 9:3–4, that all the princes of the provinces helped the Jews, “because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them,” and that his fame went out throughout all the provinces; 9:20–23, that Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews to keep the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar yearly, and that the Jews accepted the custom as Mordecai had written to them; and 10:2–3 asks whether the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, isn’t written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia, and says, “For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and accepted by the multitude of his brothers.” Cited evidence: EST 2:5–7, engwebp / EST 2:8–11, engwebp / EST 2:15–18, engwebp / EST 2:19–20, engwebp / EST 2:21–23, engwebp / EST 3:1–6, engwebp / EST 4:1–3, engwebp / EST 4:4–9, engwebp (and 18 more of 26) Review state: ai-assisted / human-review-pending What looks wrong: (not written yet) --- This collection records what the text says and does not settle interpretation. A report about a reading that divides opinion may be registered as an unresolved issue rather than corrected.