Mordecai Is The Most Enigmatic Character in the book of Esther, for so many of his actions can be taken ambiguously. His loyalty to the king is paramount in one passage as he informs on an attempted coup, but in the next he spurns the king’s command by refusing to bow to the king’s newly appointed right-hand man (the Persians may well have interpreted this as sour grapes on Mordecai’s part since he did not get the promotion). Aside from the fact that it is his stubborn (or spiritual?) refusal to bow which brings about Haman’s attempted genocide in the first place, there is no explicitly religious tone to Mordecai’s sorrow and fasting, no record of a prayer for deliverance. Indeed, his responses and motivation can be read as being entirely nationalistic. No religious dimension is associated with the Feast of Purim which he instigates; it may be interpreted purely as a feast celebrating Jewish survival. Mordecai is a hard character to fathom.
More difficulties
His relationship with Esther exhibits further tensions. He takes care of her as his close relative and brings her up in the absence of her parents; evidently this duty is one he takes very seriously. Yet he is prepared to sacrifice her to the king’s harem. He does not know whether she will be the one chosen from the hundreds of maidens, and therefore what is the cost of his ambition? Is the king’s harem any place for a good Jewish girl?
Admittedly, I have painted the oppositions in bright colors to make the point, but it is clear that there is sufficient material here for interpreters to take a spectrum of views on Mordecai, as indeed they have. He is something of a conundrum.
Difficulty regarding Jewishness
We may find a way out of this impasse by involving ourselves first in another difficulty, again connected with the theme of identity. Consider how Mordecai is referred to in the book. On six occasions he is called ‘Mordecai the Jew.’ We know that he is a Jew after his first appearance in chapter two; the text is hardly telling us something new when it keeps reminding us of the fact. Yet for some reason it chooses to do so. Esther, by contrast, is not `Esther the Jewess,” it is only Mordecai who is emphatically ‘the Jew.’
Despite his all-pervading Jewishness, when Mordecai instructs Esther how to comport herself in the royal palace, he tells her to behave in a way which seems to contradict the portrayal of his own nationalism:
Esther had not sheaved her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it (2:10).
Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him (2:20).
Observe the contrast with Mordecai’s own explicit declaration of his identity: For he had told them that he was a Jew … and Haman thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai (3: 4, 6)
Why this difference? How can Mordecai be so fundamentally Jewish yet wish Esther to make a secret of her own identity? How can you do one thing for yourself but prescribe something else for another? Is it because he doesn’t want to receive favours of the king on Esther’s merit should she triumph in the select-a-queen contest? Probably not, for he is quite willing to accept them later when Jewish survival is at stake. Perhaps his own Jewishness has been an obstacle to him in his career so far, and he wants Esther to have the best chance she can? Perhaps he wants her to succeed at all costs.
Suspecting anti-Semitism
Another possible way of resolving this contrast between Mordecai and Esther is suggested in the considerably longer Greek version of the book of Esther. According to that text Mordecai anticipates what is going to happen with Haman’s anti-Semitic plot, and prepares for it in advance by ‘planting’ Esther within the royal household. Esther is to be a secret agent, undercover, as it were, inside the king’s palace! It is a bold suggestion, but it may just be correct. Perhaps anti-Semitic sentiments were already brewing in the Empire at that time and Haman was bringing them to a head and utilising them in his decree (this would convincingly explain why there were so many ‘enemies of the Jews’ prepared to execute Haman’s command). Mordecai may not have anticipated Haman’s specific plan, but he may have suspected that racial hatred was bubbling away within the Empire and getting all too near the surface.
The book certainly seems to make a point of the deliberation with which Esther was instructed not to reveal her identity. There is nothing explicit in the Hebrew text to suggest that the Greek’s explanation is correct; it is an addition not found in the Hebrew and is probably secondary. But it does show that such an interpretation has an ancient history, and there is attractiveness to it. Even if Mordecai’s intentions are to be explained in some other way, the fact remains that his action and Esther’s mysterious identity becomes under God’s hand, a crucial component of the Jews’ deliverance.
A model man
Mordecai is a classic example of what modern society terms ‘the strong and silent type.’ This is one of the reasons behind his ambiguity. He doesn’t tell us why he does what he does. He doesn’t often speak at all, even though he is such a dominant figure in the book — so we don’t know precisely what he is thinking or what motivates him. When his loyalty to Ahasuerus goes unrewarded he remains silent; when Haman parades him round the city he is still silent. When he is exalted above measure and given Haman’s role, he still has nothing to say. He is stoic in the face of adversity and apparently unmoved by the praise of men. He keeps his own counsel. He is to be admired for his quiet determination, his loyalty, his identification with his people and his love for Esther. At the end of the day (and at the end of the book), his actions have become a strong testimony, and even those aspects that can be interpreted negatively can be seen to find sufficient explanation.
Picking up the ambiguities in his actions highlighted at the beginning of this article, we find that, although the text does not require it, it probably makes sense to take them in the following positive way. Mordecai’s loyalty to the king is paramount, except where there is a conflict with his religious convictions (hence his refusal to bow to Haman based on the conflict decreed by God between Israel and Amalek). What may be perceived as mere ambition for his daughter is rather a suspicion that danger is at hand for his race and the creation of a unique opportunity to use the resources at the family’s disposal to prepare for it by placing Esther next to the king himself! His love and care for his ‘daughter’ are unstinting, but for the greater good of a whole nation he is prepared to encourage her to risk her own life by going to make request of the king. This sacrificial love may be seen as typical of God’s willingness to give His son that others might have life.
This leaves one remaining issue, and it is a major one: why is there no explicitly religious dimension to his actions? This question is part of a bigger one about the absence of God in the whole book. I shall devote a whole article to that matter later in the series, and for the present continue the exploration of Mordecai.
Mordecai comes into his own
Once the distracting figure of Haman and his over-sized ego is removed, there is space for the king to finally give Mordecai the role he has deserved by his princely deportment and loyalty. The king’s ring is removed from Haman’s hand and transferred to Mordecai who ‘waxes greater and greater.’ He becomes the great patron of the Jewish people, once suffering with them and working behind the scenes on their behalf, but now publicly offering leadership as commanding edicts are written and sealed with the king’s ring:
And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater (9:3-4).
As ‘the Jew,’ Mordecai illustrates what a Jew (both natural and spiritual) should be. He becomes a model of Jewishness which is to be imitated. His relationship with the State, his meticulous execution of family responsibilities (bringing Esther up on his own and going to see her every day!), his putting first of the commands of God (concerning Amalek) and his refusal to compromise, his love of his people and his willingness to make sacrifices on their behalf, his quiet yet considered and resolute style — all these make up a complete man, a fine example to be copied. Others may misunderstand or question one’s motives as these various duties are undertaken (as we began this article by doing!), but loyalty and spirituality will be rewarded as they were for Mordecai, even if they are initially misunderstood.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One