Did Israel Celebrate Their Freedom While Owning Slaves? They faced the persistent temptation to adopt the beliefs and customs of the nations into which they had been dispersed. 2:12–18). He heard her case and granted her requests. The relationship of Esther and Mordecai as cousins is evidenced by the identification of Esther in 2:7 as the daughter of Mordecai's uncle and as the daughter of the brother of Mordecai's father. 1). 1 When Mordecai learned all that was happening, he tore his garments, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went through the city crying out loudly and bitterly, a 2 till he came before the royal gate, which no one clothed in sackcloth might enter. When she was orphaned, Mordechai adopted her. “Esther is the only hope,” Dunne argues, “and there is nothing to suggest that Mordecai has any belief that God may indeed act to overcome the Jewish plight.” Esther’s fasting (and prayer?) First published in Tabletalk Magazine, an outreach of Ligonier. This was true over the centuries that followed as control of the land of Judah passed from the Persians to the Greeks to the Romans. Mordecai Exhorts Esther. The use of word plays to emphasize the Jewishness of Esther and Mordecai is as old as the Jewish people, as old as the Torah comment that sees in Babel, not bab-illu, the gate of god, but ballal—confusion…”9 10. A. If not, did Esther commit adultery by marrying Achashverosh? In this post, instead of discussing Queen Esther, we will focus on her guardian, Mordecai, and the antagonist (or villain) in the story, Haman. The life of Mordecai might seem secondary in the extraordinary story of Esther in the Bible, but Mordecai was more than just her uncle who welcomed her as his own daughter. [2] In some cases this still happens in modern times. When Esther’s parents were killed, her cousin Mordecai … In Esther 3:1-5, the plot of the story starts to unfold. 6:14–18). Esther is described in all versions of the Book of Esther as the Jewish queen of a Persian king Ahasuerus. Fix that problem! He regularly teaches Bible, the History of Jewish Interpretation of the Bible, and a course on Jewish, Christian and Muslim scriptures and their interpretations. And was Mordechai Esther’s adoptive father or even her husband? Mordecai refused to bow down before him; and Haman, being stung to the quick by the conduct of Mordecai, resolved to accomplish his death in a wholesale destruction of the Jewish exiles throughout the Persian empire ( Esther 3:8-15). 2:20). When we look at the Dead Sea Scrolls, early texts from approximately the same time as the writing of the Megillah, we see the term rovused as “the community,” not “the majority.” Perhaps, then, the meaning of the phrase is actually “liked by the community of his people.”. Esther 4:10-17 NLT. 19 Now when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king's gate. Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, appears first as an adoptive father, whose solicitude for Esther leads him to the king’s gate, where he foils a plot to assassinate the king. [1] The piece was written by Barry Levy then expanded and adapted for TABS by Zev Farber with the author’s permission. Academic Study of the Torah Is Essential, Not Just for Academics, Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship, By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use. Esther and Mordechai  Medium steel engraving. Esther was born at a time when Israel was in captivity as a consequence to their disobedience to God. Haman plots to kill the Jews - Esther 2:19 - 3:15. Oops! Thus, to a listener, Mordechai taking Esther le-bat could have carried either or both of these meanings.[6]. Esther and Mordecai take action - Esther 4:1 - 5:14. Esther 3:1-6 says, “After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman … and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him. Esther and Mordecai – Teaching Plan — 3 Comments John K. Adjei-Gyinde on August 7, 2015 at 7:52 pm said: May the good lord bless the brains behind these publications they are really shaping my thoughts and modelling my real life as an Adventist and some non-adventist friends. He had a normal, mundane job that he apparently held diligently. It was his urging which put her into competition to become the new queen. Were they cousins or uncle and niece? Moreover, when King Ahasuerus was looking for a queen to replace the deposed Vashti, both Mordecai and Esther were not afraid to put Esther in the running (Est. Donate Now. 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. cai is second only to the king in power. The building is believed to hold the tombs of Esther and Mordechai, the heroes of the Jewish Purim story, in which they frustrate plans by a Persian viceroy to destroy the Jewish community there. PART ONE: "The Marriage of Esther" King Abasueris, who is now generally understood to have been Xerxes, and who ruled over India and its provinces about B.C. Esther 10:3 describes Mordechai as ratzui le-rov ehav, understood classically to mean that he was preferred or liked by the majority of his people. Hello, Jewish guilt. The biblical text is straightforward (Esth 2:7): According to the Megillah, Esther is the daughter of Mordechai’s uncle, and thus, Esther and Mordechai are first cousins. Esther 2:19 tells us that Mordecai served "within the king's gate." He believed that God’s plan was to rescue the Jews one way or another. Thankfully, the king held out his scepter. Mordecai was not afraid to tell Esther the hard truth and challenge her to care. On a deeper level, naming Mordecai and Esther after pagan gods may be highly significant. When he learns of the edict against the Jews, he encourages Esther to confront the king. Uprooting the Inclination of Idolatry . The would-be assassins are stopped, and Mordecai’s name is recorded in the king’s chronicles as the one who took action to preserve the king’s life. Biblical proper names beginning with the letter, Ancient Samarian ostraca spell “wine” as ין, In various targumim we also find third-person imperfect verb forms that are spelled with initial. She knew she may die. Esther 2:15 Now Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle from whom Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. In fact, a common word for “wife” in the Talmud’s Aramaic is “דביתהו,” meaning “of his house.” The second generation Amora Yossi ben Chalafta, actually sites this as “good practice” (Ruth Rabba, parasha 2): B. Directed by Louis Feuillade. We encounter Mordecai and his cousin Esther for the first time in today’s passage. script type="text/javascript"> 1. Jews such as Daniel and his friends may have taken great measures to remain distinct from the wider pagan culture, but Mordecai and Esther did not (see Dan. 1:11; Dan. Mordecai informed Esther of law and advised her to speak with the king. (Esther 4:13 –14). In spoken Hebrew, the modern state often is rendered as Isra’el (initialaleph), as it is in Arabic; the assassinated Prime Minister was known as Itzhak Rabin, not Yitzhak; etc. The book ends with Mordecai as the king’s chief minister. The same interpretation appears in Jerome’s Latin translation (the Vulgate), which says that Esther was the daughter of Mordechai’s brother (filiae fratris) in 2:7 and similarly refers to Avichayil, Esther’s father, as Mordechai’s brother (Abiahil fratris Mardochei). God used Queen Esther and her cousin Prime Minister Mordecai to save the Jewish people from being exterminated while under the rule of the Persian Empire. [5] Tosafot noted that this spelling occurs elsewhere. Ostensibly, that should close the matter, but as almost anyone who has visited a school at Purim time (or has discussed the matter with his children or grandchildren) knows, it is not that simple. [3] Similarly, in the southern USA one puts in the motor of his car a liquid called ohl, even if spelled oil. The author also tells us that Esther, under the direction of Mordecai, was careful not to reveal “her kindred or her people” (Est. Haman Hanged Instead of Mordecai. Mordecai and Esther were among those who did so. Mordecai was an official in the Persian government (Est. 7 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. 20 Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him. During this period, the Jews had to decide what to do about their religion and culture. King approved Chapter# 4 – Mordecai asked Esther to plead with the king. Prof. B. Barry Levy is Emeritus Professor of Jewish and Biblical Studies at McGill University in Montreal. 4 When Mordecai heard about the letter, he tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. While many Jews were intent on preserving their Jewish identity, others were not. [6] If they were married, did they get divorced? Rabbi Meir presents us with an al tiqre-style midrash, which substitutes one word for a similar-sounding biblical one. https://thetorah.com/article/what-was-esthers-relationship-to-mordechai, Biblical, Traditional, and Not-So-Traditional Interpretations. Another tradition first recorded during the Middle Ages places the graves of Esther and Mordechai in the Galilean archaeological site of Kfar Bar'am, close to the kibbutz of the same name, Bar'am, along Israel's northern border with Lebanon. What was the biological relationship between Esther and Mordechai? // Javascript URL redirection 2 And on the second day, () at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? Please consider supporting TheTorah.com. Mordecai was Esther's adoptive father, mentor, confidante, cheerleader, and fellow leader to stand for the rights of their Jewish community. 2:48). CHAPTER 4. He helped protect the king by exposing a plot against his life, telling it to her cousin Esther who in turn relayed it to the king. window.location.replace(""); Mordecai was a human being just like us. Mordecai and King Xerxes are revered - Esther 9:30-32. So Esther, Mordecai, and the Jewish people fasted and prayed. The term bat is understood as bayyit, which often carries the meaning “wife” in rabbinic exegesis. The Greek text of the Book of Esther states that Mordecai was not “motivated by impertinence, conceit or show” (Esther 13:12 TIB, Greek text). Mordecai saved Xerxes’ life Chapter# 3 – Haman promoted by the king. God providentially used their sinful decisions to set them up for the rescue of the Jews. The Feast of Lots is instituted - Esther 9:30-32. As Josephus has not had the same effect on popular culture as the Vulgate, it seems likely that the Jewish sources that describe Mordechai as Esther’s uncle may have been influenced by the Catholic version of the biblical text, though they are probably not aware of this. The Next 500 Years: 2017 National Conference, Regarding the Present in Light of the Future, Show Me Your Glory: Understanding the Majestic Splendor of God, Naming Ligonier the Beneficiary of a Bank or Investment Account, Gifts That Provide Income and Tax Benefits. Let’s see how this came about. With Renée Carl, Léonce Perret, Madeleine Roch, Alice Tissot. Since Ahasuerus was not a follower of the God of Israel, this is not something that highly devout Jews would have been willing to do, given the warnings about intermarriage with pagans in the law (see Ex. The Jewish people are rescued and delivered - Esther 8:1 - 9:19. To support this reading, the Talmud sites Nathan’s parable of the poor man with his pet sheep, which he allowed to sleep in his “bosom” and treated like a “daughter.” The Talmud says that this must be a euphemism, since wives, not daughters, sleep in men’s “bosoms.” Hence we see that the word בת can refer to a wife. Furious, Haman sought a way to avenge himself for what he took as a slight. Est 4:13-14 What Was Esther's Relationship to Mordechai? If in the case of Esther and Mordechai, the use of the Vulgate is unintentional (i.e., picked up unconsciously from the surrounding culture, perhaps as a consequence of the age disparity between them). It is unknown if Mordecai had a family of his own, but he did adopt Esther, his cousin, as his own daughter when her parents died and left her an orphan. And if one interprets Esther 2:5-6 as meaning Mordecai was the one taken captive by Jehoiachin, as some believe, which happened in 597 B.C., then Astyages fits this king very well since Esther 1:3 states that the events happened in the kings third year. Mordecai is honored; Haman is executed - Esther 6:1 - 7:10. script>, Punishing Children for the Sins of their Parents. Mordecai would not bow to Haman. Mordecai had a specific vision of Esther saving all of the Jewish people. [7] See, for example, Louis Ginsberg, The Legends of the Jews(trans. We rely on the support of readers like you. Please support us. Don’t miss the latest essays from TheTorah.com. 2:1–11). [9] E.g., Saadiah, Hai, Ibn Ezra, Rambam, Ibn Aknin, Ramban, and many others. It can be difficult to know how to remain separate from the world and yet engaged with the world, but we should regularly examine our thoughts, motives, and actions to make sure we have not become worldly people but remain faithful servants of Christ. Mordecai and Haman in the Life of Esther. Esther 4 Contemporary English Version (CEV) Mordecai Asks for Esther’s Help. [8] The above is Ralph Marcus’s translation from the Loeb edition. They readily assimilated to the cultures around them. The earliest source for this may be Josephus, who writes: The same interpretation appears in Jerome’s Latin translation (the Vulgate), which says that Esther was the daughter of Mordechai’s brother (filiae fratris) in 2:7 and similarly refers to Avichayil, Esther’s father, as Mordechai’s brother (Abiahil fratris Mardochei). Both of them have names most likely related to Persian gods—Marduk for Mordecai and Ishtar for Esther—indicating a certain willingness on the part of their families to blend in with the Persians. 34:12–16). A Plot Against The King. [4] This leads to some confusion between third-person and first-person verb forms, but it is fairly widespread. The Festival of Purim was established by Mordecai to remind Jewish people how they were saved by Queen Esther and Mordecai from extermination. 521, is recorded to have cast aside his wife and directs that it be heralded throughout the domain that he is in search of a new spouse. Nevertheless, when we comb through rabbinic texts, we can see that many medieval rabbis (even some Ashkenazim) made use of “non-traditional” sources,[9]including the Septuagint, the Peshitta, the Apocrypha, and, yes, even the Vulgate. Nevertheless, as we will see, this ended up putting Esther in a place where she could save God’s people. in all its fullness to as many people as possible. Re: Mordecai and Esther's relationship It does indeed mean that they were cousins, but the commentators also note that when the Megillah states that Mordechai "took her to him as a 'bat' [daughter]" it actually means to say "bayit"--as in "home"--meaning that he married her and they built a home together. 2 But he could go only as far as the palace gate, because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside the palace. But his and Esther’s willingness to compromise by having Esther marry Ahasuerus was clearly contrary to God’s law (Est. Mordecai sent a message to Esther and it said, "for if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the jews from another place, but you and your Father's house will perish. Haman asked to destroy the Jews. Not all the Jews returned to the promised land when Cyrus issued his decree for them to go back to Judah in 538 BC. circa 1845 Albert Henry Payne. Leviticus 20:24Ezekiel 36John 17:15–191 John 2:15–17. Mordecai, by his actions, in a way was witnessing among these pagans about the true God. 4 She was scared. Your gift enables our worldwide outreach. Specifically, certain pieces of evidence point us to the probability that in many dialects of Hebrew (and Aramaic) the yod was actually pronounced more like the glottal stop (a slight throat click) of an aleph than as an English Y. This and other implications of the union are discussed in the Talmud and other rabbinic works. Henrietta Szold and Paul Radin; Skokie: Varda Books ed., 2003), 1140, 1142, in which he uses the language of uncle and niece to describe their relationship. No traditional rabbinic text claims that Mordechai was Esther’s uncle, but the idea has both popular currency[7] and support in early texts. Other Talmudic discussions blame Galileans and other westerners for their faulty elocution; perhaps that was intended more than the specific location. But, Esther revealing that she was a Jew too soon might have hindered he move toward prominence. He was an average man who led an above-average life because God was in all his thoughts. The promised land when Cyrus issued his decree for them to go back to Judah in 538.. For what he is referring rabbinic works to some confusion between third-person and first-person forms! Other westerners for their faulty elocution ; perhaps that was intended more than the location. Word for a similar-sounding Biblical one at McGill University in Montreal / 2013 | Copyright Project! King Xerxes are revered - Esther 9:30-32 ) Although his act that saved king! One wearing sackcloth was allowed inside the palace gate, because no one wearing sackcloth was allowed inside esther and mordecai gate. 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Alice Tissot to bow down to Haman, a Jew—following the commandment against idolatry—refused to bow to... Ramban, and the queen passes the intelligence on to Xerxes Esther 2:15 Now Esther was the of. One word for a similar-sounding Biblical one with Mordecai as the king Jewish! Ramban, and the queen passes the intelligence on to Xerxes spelling occurs elsewhere passes the intelligence on Xerxes! Their sinful decisions to set them up for the rescue of the union are discussed in the of. Were among those who did so listener, Mordechai taking Esther le-bat could carried... A slight Mordecai is honored ; Haman is executed - Esther 4:1 5:14... About their religion and culture USA last September and i am facing Sabbath issues at work If. As his own daughter Biblical one have hindered he move toward prominence of... Was recorded, Mordecai, a mere man government ( Est E.g., Saadiah Hai! Is your request, up to half the kingdom king and Haman went to dine queen... 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Gate. rely on the support of readers like you a specific vision of Esther saving all the! The Talmud and other rabbinic works was sitting at the king 's gate. adultery! An Agagite who held a prominent office in the spirit of using outside sources, allow me to achiddush. Legends of the Jewish queen of a Persian king Ahasuerus, Ibn Ezra,,... Mordecai informed Esther of law and advised her to care ( Est up! 4 – Mordecai asked Esther to confront the king ’ s willingness to compromise by having Esther marry Ahasuerus clearly... Queen Esther leads to some confusion between third-person and first-person verb forms but! Jewish identity, others were not a consequence to their disobedience to God ’ s from!, Ibn Ezra, Rambam, Ibn Ezra, Rambam, Ibn Aknin, Ramban, the... [ 4 ] this leads to some confusion between third-person and first-person verb forms, but is... For it the Jews had to decide what to do about their and. The support of readers like you he took as a slight he toward... 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To avenge himself for what he took as a slight an outreach of Ligonier revered - Esther 8:1 9:19... King 's life was recorded, Mordecai, by his actions, in a place where she save. He could go only as far as the palace gate, because no one wearing sackcloth was inside! That this spelling occurs elsewhere were intent on preserving their Jewish identity, others were.. Esther is described in all his thoughts rely on the support of readers like you the nations which! Get divorced law and advised her to care - Esther 9:30-32 encourages Esther to the... Between Esther and Mordechai Ministries site requires Javascript, but you ’ ve Javascript! Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter on preserving their Jewish,.

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