Mordecai
Esther’s cousin and guardian, a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin at the Persian court. In the book of Esther his refusal to bow to Haman sets off the plot against the Jews, and he ends as the king’s chief minister.
The book of Esther introduces Mordecai as a Benjaminite living in the citadel of Susa, from a family deported with King Jeconiah, who had brought up his orphaned cousin Esther (Esther 2:5–7). He sat at the king’s gate, uncovered a plot against the king’s life, and refused to bow to Haman (Esther 2:21–23) (Esther 3:2–6). After Haman’s fall the king gave Mordecai his signet ring, and Mordecai wrote the decree that saved the Jews and the letters that established Purim (Esther 8:2, 9–10) (Esther 9:20–22). The book ends with him next in rank to the king (Esther 10:3).
Outside the book, 2 Maccabees calls the feast “the day of Mordecai” (2 Maccabees 15:36).
In the timeline
- 483 BC to 473 BC, traditional dateEsther and the Origin of Purim
The book of Esther tells how a Jewish queen of Persia and her cousin Mordecai turned back a decree to destroy the Jews of the empire. The feast of Purim keeps the memory of that deliverance.