Cousin and guardian of Queen Esther, son of Jair and prominent Jew, who lived during the time of the Israelite exile and return in Persia during the reign of King Ahauserus.
About Mordecai
A Jewish leader during the exile, and we know about him mainly from the book of Esther. According to some rabbinic sources, Mordecai himself wrote the book of Esther. He lived during the reign of King Xerxes of Persia (also called Ahasuerus). At that time, Persia was a large empire that included 127 provinces.
Mordecai was from the tribe of Benjamin and a descendant of Kish (the father of King Saul). His relatives were among the Jews that King Nebuchadnezzar forced to leave Palestine and live in Babylon. Even though Mordecai had a Babylonian name, he cared deeply for his fellow Jews. Even though King Cyrus said they could return to their homeland in 538 BC, they chose to live in other lands instead of facing the difficulties of rebuilding Palestine.
Mordecai's life is connected to his cousin, Hadassah, who was also called Esther. He adopted her after her parents died. When the king removed Queen Vashti from power, Esther became the new queen. This position later helped her save her people. Mordecai's strong guidance and influence on Esther were very important. However, it was God's protection that made their actions successful. This protected the Jews from the evil plans of Haman, the king's chief advisor.
Haman hated the Jews and made plans to destroy them all. He was angry because Mordecai refused to bow to him. (Bowing was a sign of respect.) When Mordecai learned of Haman's plans, he sent a message to Esther through a royal servant named Hathach.
At first, Esther was afraid to take action. But Mordecai urged her to think about whether God had made her queen for this very purpose (to save their people). He warned her with these famous words:
"Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13–14).
Through these words, Mordecai was telling Esther that God had likely made her queen specifically to help save her people.
While Haman was plotting against Mordecai, he built a tall wooden structure (called gallows) to hang him on. The night it was finished, King Xerxes could not sleep. He asked someone to read him the record book of his reign. From this, the king learned that Mordecai had once saved his life by stopping an assassination attempt. The king asked if Mordecai had ever been rewarded for this good deed. When he found out that Mordecai had never been honored, the king called for Haman.
The king asked Haman what should be done for someone the king wanted to honor. Haman thought the king was talking about him, so he suggested three grand gestures (Esther 6:7–9). But to Haman's surprise, the king ordered him to do all these things for Mordecai! Later, in an unexpected turn of events, Haman was executed on the very same gallows he had built to kill Mordecai.
After Haman's death, Mordecai and Esther needed to act quickly. The first order to kill the Jews could not be changed since it was already law. But King Xerxes, who now cared about protecting the Jews, made a new law. This new law allowed the Jews to defend themselves and fight back against anyone who tried to attack them. Mordecai sent this new order to all the Persian officials. They worked with him to protect the Jews, and many of their enemies were killed.
After this victory, Mordecai told the Jews to celebrate their rescue every year on the 14th and 15th days of Adar (around March). They called this celebration "Purim." This name comes from the word "pur," which means "lot." It refers to the lot that Haman had used to choose the day he planned to destroy the Jews.
See also Esther, Book of.
Family Relationships
- Parents
- Jair (Esther 2:5)
Key References
Now there was at the citadel of Susa a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.
And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter.
When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.
All Scripture References (50)
Esther (50)
Now there was at the citadel of Susa a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.
And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter.
Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.
And every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn about Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.
Now Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle from whom Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. And when it was her turn to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king’s trusted official in charge of the harem, had advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her.
When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.
Esther still had not revealed her lineage or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed. She obeyed Mordecai’s command, as she had done under his care.
In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, grew angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she informed the king on Mordecai’s behalf.
All the royal servants at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded that this be done for him. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage.
Then the royal servants at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the command of the king?”
Day after day they warned him, but he would not comply. So they reported it to Haman to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, since he had told them he was a Jew.
When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or pay him homage, he was filled with rage.
And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.
When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.
When Esther’s maidens and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, the queen was overcome with distress. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.
Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs appointed to her, and she dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what was troubling him and why.
So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the king’s gate,
and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury in order to destroy the Jews.
So Hathach went back and relayed Mordecai’s response to Esther.
Then Esther spoke to Hathach and instructed him to tell Mordecai,
When Esther’s words were relayed to Mordecai,
he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews.
Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:
So Mordecai went and did all that Esther had instructed him.
That day Haman went out full of joy and glad of heart. At the king’s gate, however, he saw Mordecai, who did not rise or tremble in fear at his presence. And Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.
Yet none of this satisfies me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”
His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows fifty cubits high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” The advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows constructed.
And there it was found recorded that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the king’s entrance, when they had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
The king inquired, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this act?” “Nothing has been done for him,” replied the king’s attendants.
“Who is in the court?” the king asked. Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.
“Hurry,” said the king to Haman, “and do just as you proposed. Take the robe and the horse to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything that you have suggested.”
So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!”
Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.
Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him—for surely you will fall before him.”
Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said: “There is a gallows fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. He had it built for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.” “Hang him on it!” declared the king.
So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
That same day King Xerxes awarded Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai entered the king’s presence because Esther had revealed his relation to her.
The king removed the signet ring he had recovered from Haman and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai over the estate of Haman.
So King Xerxes said to Esther the Queen and Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked the Jews.
At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush—writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.
Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.
And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.
For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.
Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,
So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them.
So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.
in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.
And all of Mordecai’s powerful and magnificent accomplishments, together with the full account of the greatness to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?
For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.