Ester 2:5

2:5 Now there happened to be a Jewish man in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai. ¹  He was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite,

Ester 3:1-5

Haman Conspires to Destroy the Jews

3:1 Some time later ²  King Ahasuerus promoted ³  Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, exalting him and setting his position ⁴  above that of all the officials who were with him. 3:2 As a result, ⁵  all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate were bowing and paying homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded. However, Mordecai did not bow, ⁶  nor did he pay him homage.

3:3 Then the servants of the king who were at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you violating the king’s commandment?” 3:4 And after they had spoken to him day after day ⁷  without his paying any attention to them, they informed Haman to see whether this attitude on Mordecai’s part would be permitted. ⁸  Furthermore, he had disclosed to them that he was a Jew. ⁹ 

3:5 When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing or paying homage to him, he ¹⁰  was filled with rage.

[2:5]  ¹ sn Mordecai is a pagan name that reflects the name of the Babylonian deity Marduk. Probably many Jews of the period had two names, one for secular use and the other for use especially within the Jewish community. Mordecai’s Jewish name is not recorded in the biblical text.

[3:1]  ² tn Heb “after these things” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV “After these events.”

[3:1]  ³ tn Heb “made great”; NAB “raised…to high rank”; NIV “honored.”

[3:1]  sn The promotion of Haman in 3:1 for reasons unexplained contrasts noticeably with 2:19-23, where Mordecai’s contribution to saving the king’s life goes unnoticed. The irony is striking.

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “chair”; KJV, NRSV “seat”; NASB “established his authority.”

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). Other modern English versions leave the conjunction untranslated here (NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[3:2]  ⁶ sn Mordecai did not bow. The reason for Mordecai’s refusal to bow before Haman is not clearly stated here. Certainly the Jews did not refuse to bow as a matter of principle, as though such an action somehow violated the second command of the Decalogue. Many biblical texts bear witness to their practice of falling prostrate before people of power and influence (e.g., 1 Sam 24:8; 2 Sam 14:4; 1 Kgs 1:16). Perhaps the issue here was that Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, a people who had attacked Israel in an earlier age (see Exod 17:8-16; 1 Sam 15:17-20; Deut 25:17-19).

[3:4]  ⁷ sn Mordecai’s position in the service of the king brought him into regular contact with these royal officials. Because of this association the officials would have found ample opportunity to complain of Mordecai’s refusal to honor Haman by bowing down before him.

[3:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “Will the matters of Mordecai stand?”; NASB “to see whether Mordecai’s reason would stand.”

[3:4]  ⁹ sn This disclosure of Jewish identity is a reversal of the practice mentioned in 1:10, 20.

[3:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Haman.” The pronoun (“he”) was used in the translation for stylistic reasons. Repeating the proper name here is redundant according to contemporary English style, although the name is repeated in NASB and NRSV.