Esther 3:2-4

ESTHER—NOTE ON Esther 3:2 bowed down and paid homage. Bowing was the normal way of paying respect to Persian royalty. It was not an act of worship (see Genesis 23:7; 1 Kings 1:16). Mordecai did not bow, because “he was a Jew.” The text does not give any more reason. he had told them that he was a Jew. Mordecai did the very thing he had told Esther not to do (Esther 2:10, Esther 2:20).