“Esther is the only hope,” Dunne argues, “and there is nothing to suggest that Mordecai has any belief that God may indeed act to overcome the Jewish plight.” Esther’s fasting (and prayer?) Here is what she tells Hathach to tell Mordecai. Esther had been orphaned as a child, and her cousin, Mordecai, cared for her. But, Esther revealing that she was a Jew too soon might have hindered he move toward prominence. Esther and Mordecai had not returned to the land and did not seem interested in complying with the prophetic command to return. Mordecai Exhorts Esther. Esther 4:13-14 English Standard Version (ESV). It was his urging which put her into competition to become the new queen. ), a strong, effective ruler. In time, Esther won the favor of King Xerxes, and he crowned her queen (Esther 2:17). Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: So they are using Hathach as an intermediary, a messenger between them. Only if the king extends the gold scepter may that person live. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. (Esther 3:6, JPS) While Mordecai did know ahead that this would happen with Haman, he evidently knew Haman would be a problem for the Jews and knew Esther's place of prominence could protect them. And if one interprets Esther 2:5-6 as meaning Mordecai was the one taken captive by Jehoiachin, as some believe, which happened in 597 B.C., then Astyages fits this king very well since Esther 1:3 states that the events happened in the kings third year. - Esther 2 Not all the Jews returned to the promised land when Cyrus issued his decree for them to go back to Judah in 538 BC. The Persian monarch mentioned in the Book of Esther is Xerxes (485-465), known from other sources as Ahasuerus (see niv marg. The Fear of Esther (Esther 4:11) Esther 4:11. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. The Bible's Book of Esther records the story of how Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai stood up for their Jewish heritage against a conniving, arrogant, anti … Mordecai refused to bow down before him; and Haman, being stung to the quick by the conduct of Mordecai, resolved to accomplish his death in a wholesale destruction of the Jewish exiles throughout the Persian empire ( Esther 3:8-15). Esther 4:13-14 tells us of that story. So Hathach returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Mordecai Appeals to Esther … 11 “All the royal officials and the people of the king’s provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned—that he be put to death. Est 4:13-14 The relationship of Esther and Mordecai as cousins is evidenced by the identification of Esther in 2:7 as the daughter of Mordecai's uncle and as the daughter of the brother of Mordecai's father. 1 When Mordecai learned all that was happening, he tore his garments, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went through the city crying out loudly and bitterly, a 2 till he came before the royal gate, which no one clothed in sackcloth might enter. In adherence to Mordecai’s instructions, Esther did not reveal to anyone that she was a Jew. CHAPTER 4. “Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him” (v. 20). Esther 4:9-10. "According to the Semitic custom, the most suitable wife was a cousin on the father's side, which was the relation Esther was to Mordecai." It was also Mordecai who uncovered a plot to kill the king, and it was Mordecai who revealed the wicked Hamans plan to exterminate the Jewish people to Esther which saved the people.