Esther 10:3

3 For Mordecai the Jew [was] second-in-command to King Ahasuerus. [He was] great for the Jews and popular with many of his brothers, for he sought good for his people, {interceding for the welfare of all his descendants}.

Esther 10:3 Meaning and Commentary

Esther 10:3

For Mordecai the Jew was next unto Ahasuerus
The second man in the kingdom, the principal of the counsellors, and prime minister of state:

and great among the Jews;
highly respected by them, in great honour and esteem with them, for which there was great reason:

and accepted of the multitude of his brethren;
or of many, of most, of the greatest part of them; for, let a man be ever so deserving, there are some that will envy his greatness, cavil at everything done by him, and speak evil of him without any just reason:

seeking the wealth of his people;
their good, their welfare and happiness, temporal and spiritual:

and speaking peace to all his seed;
not only to his family, but to all the Jews who were of the same seed with him, the seed of Abraham; either speaking to them in an humble and condescending manner, being very humane, affable, and courteous; or speaking for them to the king, asking of him for them what might conduce to their peace, prosperity, and happiness. No mention is made in this history of the death and burial either of Mordecai or Esther; but the author of Cippi Hebraici says F26, that Mordecai was buried in the city of Shushan, and that all the Jews in those parts assemble at his grave on the day of Purim, and sing songs, playing on tabrets and pipes, rejoicing that there was a miracle wrought; and the same writer says F1, they do the like at that time at the grave of Esther, half a mile from Tzephat, read this book that bears her name, eat, drink, and rejoice. Benjamin of Tudela says {b}, they were both buried before a synagogue, at a place called Hamdan.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 P. 70. Ed. Hottinger.
F1 Ib. p. 64.
F2 Itinerar. p. 96.

Esther 10:3 In-Context

1 King Ahasuerus imposed forced labor on the land and islands of the sea.
2 All the work of his authority and his {powerful deeds}, and the full accounting of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written on the scroll of the {chronicles} of the kings of Media and Persia?
3 For Mordecai the Jew [was] second-in-command to King Ahasuerus. [He was] great for the Jews and popular with many of his brothers, for he sought good for his people, {interceding for the welfare of all his descendants}.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "spoke peace for all his offspring"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.