Esther 2:5

There was a certain Jew The grammatical form in the original may be intended to emphasize the abruptness with which Mordecai is brought upon the scene. The influence which he, a Jew, is to have upon the history is thus placed in significant contrast with the brilliancy of the court of Susa.

Mordecai It may surprise us that a name which properly means a votary of the Babylonian god Marduk, another form of Merodach (Jupiter), should be borne by a Jew. [64] It has been suggested that it may have been given to the son in compliment to a Babylonian friend or master, and without any reference to its derivation, just as, in later days, the name Martin, e.g. St Martin of Tours, is completely devoid of associations with its etymological source, Mars. Mordecai, the cousin and adoptive father of Esther, is to be distinguished from the Mordecai who was a companion of Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:2; Nehemiah 7:7). He has, without justification, been identified with Matacas, described by Ctesias [65] as a powerful favourite of Xerxes.

[64] But see Sayce (The Higher Criticism and the Monuments, p. 470), who points out that "in the contract tablets which have been discovered under the soil of Babylonia we occasionally find the names of Jews, and in some instances these Jews are associated with persons evidently of the same nationality, but who have adopted, if not the beliefs, at all events the divine names of the Babylonian religion." He adds instances.

[65] Persica, xxvii.

the son of Jair etc. These names may denote respectively Mordecai's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. It is better, however, to consider Shimei and Kish to be the well-known members of the tribe of Benjamin, the former appearing in the history of David (2 Samuel 16:5 ff.; 1 Kings 2:8; 1 Kings 2:36-46), and the latter as father of Saul (1 Samuel 9:1; 1 Samuel 14:51; 1 Chronicles 8:33). Thus only these prominentlinks are mentioned in tracing the descent, it being a frequent practice among the Jews to omit less important members of a genealogy. Jewish tradition, accordingly, as expressed in the Targum on this passage, identifies Shimei with the enemy of David. Josephus takes the same view, as is shewn by his statement that Esther, Mordecai's cousin, was of royal descent, thus referring to Kish in his relationship to Saul. See further in note on Esther 3:1.