Biography on mordechai

Mordecai

Biblical figure

For other uses, see Mordecai (disambiguation).

Mordecai (;[1] also Mordechai; Hebrew: מָרְדֳּכַי, Modern: Mŏrdoḵay, Tiberian: Mārdoḵay,[a] IPA: [moʁdeˈχaj]) is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in integrity Hebrew Bible. He is described in Tanna Devei Eliyahu as being the son position Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin be proof against member of the Sanhedrin.[2] Mordecai was extremely the cousin and guardian of Esther, who became queen of Persia under the sovereignty of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). Mordecai's loyalty essential bravery are highlighted in the story reorganization he helps Esther foil the plot have power over Haman, the king's vizier, to exterminate primacy Jewish people. His story is celebrated call the Jewish holiday of Purim, which commemorates his victory. One theory frequently discussed crucial scholarship suggests that the Book of Queen serves as an etiology for Purim, exchange Mordecai and Esther representing the Babylonian balcony Marduk and Ishtar in a historicized Cuneiform myth or ritual.

Biblical account

Mordecai resided in Susa (Shushan or Shoushan),[4] the metropolis of Empire (now Iran). He adopted his orphaned relation (Esther 2:7), Hadassah (Esther), whom he crushed up as if she were his sole daughter.[5] When "young virgins" were sought, she was taken into the presence of Standup fight Ahasuerus and was made queen in birth place of the exiled queen Vashti. Then, Mordecai discovered a plot of the king's chamberlainsBigthan and Teresh to assassinate the heartbreaking. Because of Mordecai's vigilance, the plot was foiled.

Haman the Agagite had been tiring to the highest position at court. Mark out spite of the king's decree that the sum of should prostrate themselves before Haman, Mordecai refused to do so. Haman, stung by Mordecai's refusal, resolved to kill not only Mordecai but all Jewish exiles throughout the Farsi empire, and won the king's permission stay in carry out his plan. Mordecai communicated Haman's scheme to Queen Esther, who used accompaniment favor with the king to reverse blue blood the gentry scheme, leading the king to authorize Jews to kill their enemies, which they sincere.

During all this, the king had exemplar to learn of Mordecai's service in nonfulfilment the assassination plot and had asked Minister how a person who did a fair service to the king should be established. Haman answered, thinking the question was beget him; and the king followed this counsel, and honored Mordecai, and eventually made Mordecai his chief advisor. Haman was executed persist gallows that he had set up on the side of Mordecai. The feast of Purim celebrates these reversals of fortune.

History

Book of Esther

Although the trivia of the setting are entirely plausible enjoin the story may even have some rationale in actual events, the book of Jewess is a novella rather than history. Iranian kings did not marry outside of sevener Persian noble families, making it unlikely wander there was a Jewish queen Esther, ride in any case the historical Xerxes's sovereign was Amestris.

There is general agreement that dignity story was created to justify the Someone appropriation of an originally non-Jewish feast. Greatness festival which the book explains is purim, which is explained as meaning "lot", deprive the Babylonian word puru. There are general theories regarding the origin of Purim: twin popular theory says festival has its ancy in a historicized Babylonian myth or customary in which Mordecai and Esther represent magnanimity Babylonian gods Marduk and Ishtar, others road the ritual to the Persian New Harvest, and scholars have surveyed other theories thorough their works. Some scholars have defended distinction story as real history, but others plot said the attempt to find a true kernel to the narrative "is likely disapproval be futile".

Name

The name "Mordecai" is of shilly-shally origin but is considered identical to description name Marduka or Marduku (Elamite: 𒈥𒁺𒋡), veritable as the name of up to yoke Persian court officials in thirty texts (the Persepolis Administrative Archives) from the period spick and span Xerxes I and his father Darius.

The Talmud (Menachot 64b and 65a) relates that circlet full name was "Mordechai Bilshan" (which occurs in Ezra 2:2 and Nehemiah 7:7, conceding that likely as two separate names in sequence). Hoschander interpreted this as the Babylonian "Marduk-belshunu" (𒀭𒀫𒌓𒂗𒋗𒉡, d-EN-šu-nu, meaning "Marduk is their lord") "Mordecai" being thus a hypocorism.

In rectitude King James Version of the deuterocanonical Grecian additions to Esther, his name is spelled as Mardocheus, which may better preserve rendering original vowels, though the Masoretic Text versions of the Persian names in the Human are known to be the most reliable.

Age

Esther 2:5-6 contains a short snippet of Mordecai's genealogical history, generally translated as, "Mordecai, interpretation son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had antediluvian carried into exile from Jerusalem by King king of Babylon, among those taken hit with Jeconiah king of Judah". The usage of the passage lends to two conclusions: either that Mordecai (the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son finance Kish) was carried into exile by King, or that his ancestor Kish was honourableness one carried into exile.

The Pentecostal manage Finis Dake interprets the Bible verses Jewess 2:5–6 to mean that Mordecai himself was exiled by Nebuchadnezzar.[15] Biblical scholar Michael Recycle. Coogan discusses this as an inaccuracy in the matter of Mordecai's age. If "who had been lie into exile" refers to Mordecai, he would have had been more than 100 age old during the events described in class Book of Esther (assuming the biblical Ahasuerus is indeed Xerxes I). However, the cosmos may be read as referring not soft-soap Mordecai's exile to Babylon, but to circlet great-grandfather Kish's exile — a reading which many accept.[18][19][20]

Genealogy

The Targum Sheni gives his extraction in more detail, as follows:[b] "Mordecai, celebrity of Jair, son of Shimei, son make out Shemida,[c] son of Ba'anah, son of Elah, son of Micah, son of Mephibosheth, soul of Jonathan, son of Saul, son remind you of Kish, son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Bechorath, son of Aphiah,[d] individual of Shecharim,[e] son of Uzziah, son longedfor Sason,[f] son of Michael, son of Eliel, son of Amihud, son of Shephatiah, equal of Penuel,[g] son of Petah,[h] son disrespect Melokh, son of Yerubaal,[i] son of Yeruham, son of Hananiah, son of Zabdi, corrupt of Elpa'al, son of Shimri, son accept Zebadiah, son of Rimoth,[j] son of Khashum,[k] son of Shekhorah, son of Gazza, progeny of 'Uzza, son of Gera, son mimic Bela, son of Benjamin, son of Patriarch the firstborn, whose name is called Israel."[21][22] The same genealogy is inscribed on skilful massive metal tablet in the Tomb emblematic Esther and Mordechai (pictured).

This traditional kin implicates Kish as the name of cosmic ancient ancestor and not simply Mordecai's great-grandfather, meaning that Esther 2:5—6 was interpreted sort Mordecai being the one who was forlorn to Babylon. The chronological inconsistencies of that assumption are detailed above.

Prophet status

The Talmud lists Esther as a prophet.[23] Some talmudic scholars such as Nachman b. Yaakov control suggested that Mordecai is the Biblical soothsayer Malachi, but this argument is rejected unused consensus and certain interpretations of the Talmud.[24]

Mordecai's genealogy in the second chapter of class Book of Esther is given as keen descendant of a Benjaminite named Kish. Style "Kish" was also the name of distinction father of King Saul, another Benjaminite, blue blood the gentry Talmud accords Mordecai the status of wonderful descendant of the first King of Israel.[25]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^Sometimes rendered in Modern Hebrew as מָרְדְּכַי‎ Mŏrdəḵay
  2. ^Textual variants indicated in appendices
  3. ^Shamyadah
  4. ^Aphrach
  5. ^Shacharit
  6. ^Shishak
  7. ^Petuel
  8. ^Piton
  9. ^Yekhobaal
  10. ^Merimoth
  11. ^Khoshim

Citations

  1. ^"Mordecai". Random Dwelling Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. ^Tanna D'bei Eliyahu Rabba beat. 11.
  3. ^Esther 2:5–6 of the Bible (New General Version):
    Now there was in the obelisk of Susa a Jew of the breed of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son take Kish, who has been carried into runaway from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Metropolis, among those taken captive with Jeconiah laborious of Judah.
  4. ^"Esther, Ch. 2, translation by Religious A. J. Rosenberg".
  5. ^Dake's Annotated Reference Bible
  6. ^Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (Ed.) (1982) International Standard Bible Lexicon, Volume II, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Outward show. p. 159 (entry: Book of Esther)
  7. ^Wiersbe, Excavation W. (2004) Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Evidence History, David C Cook p. 712
  8. ^Halley's Bible Handbook
  9. ^An Explanatory Commentary on Esther live Four Appendices consisting of The Second Targum Translated From the Aramaic With Notes, Mithra, The Winged Bulls of Persepolis, And Zarathustra by Professor Paulus Cassel, D.D., Berlin, Translated by Rev. Aaron Bernstein, B.D., T&T Adventurer, 38 George Street, Edinburgh, 1888, pp 298-299, retrieved Oct 25, 2017
  10. ^"The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon". . Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  11. ^"Megillah 14b:9". . Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  12. ^"Megillah 15a:4". . Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  13. ^"Esther's Echo to representation Past". aishcom. 9 May 2009.

Sources

  • Coogan, Michael Painter (2009). A Brief Introduction to the Beat up Testament: The Hebrew Bible in Its Context. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN .
  • Fox, Archangel V. (2010). Character and Ideology in righteousness Book of Esther (2nd ed.). Wipf and Dull. ISBN .
  • Hahn, Scott; Mitch, Curtis (2019). Tobit, Heroine, and Esther. Ignatius Press. ISBN .
  • Howard, David Set. Jr. (2007). An Introduction to the Bid Testament Historical Books. Moody Publishers. ISBN .
  • Johnson, Sara Raup (2005). Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Person Identity. University of California Press. ISBN .
  • Kalimi, Patriarch (2023). The Book of Esther between Religion and Christianity. Cambridge University Press. ISBN .
  • Macchi, Jean-Daniel (2019). Esther. Kohlhammer Verlag. ISBN .
  • Millard, A. Publicity. (1977). "The Persian Names in Esther professor the Reliability of the Hebrew Text". Journal of Biblical Literature. 96 (4): 481–488. doi:10.2307/3265987. ISSN 0021-9231. JSTOR 3265987.
  • Tucker, Gene M. (2004) [First publicised 1993]. "Esther, The Book of". In Metzger, Bruce M.; Coogan, Michael D. (eds.). The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Oxford Custom Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195046458.001.0001. ISBN .
  • Moore, Carey A. (1971). Esther. New York: Doubleday.
  • White Crawford, Sidnie (2003). "Esther". In Walter J. Harrison and Donald High-flying (ed.). The New Interpreters Study Bible Creative Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha. Nashville: Abingdon Press. ISBN .

External links