Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Esther 10:3

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Esther 10:3. Was next unto king Ahasuerus — He was his prime minister; and, under him, was the governor of the whole empire.

The Targum is extravagant in its encomiums upon Mordecai: "All the kings of the earth feared and trembled before him: he was as resplendent as the evening star among the stars; and was as bright as Aurora beaming forth in the morning; and he was chief of the kings."

Seeking the wealth of his people — Studying to promote the Jewish interest to the utmost of his power.

Speaking peace to all his seed. — Endeavouring to settle their prosperity upon such a basis, that it might be for ever permanent. Here the Hebrew text ends; but in the ancient Vulgate, and in the Greek, ten verses are added to this chapter, and six whole chapters besides, so that the number of chapters in Esther amounts to sixteen. A translation of these may be found in the Apocrypha, bound up with the sacred text, in most of our larger English Bibles. On any part of this work it is not my province to add any comment.

THIS is the last of the historical books of the Old Testament, for from this time to the birth of Christ they had no inspired writers; and the interval of their history must be sought among the apocryphal writers and other historians who have written on Jewish affairs. The most complete supplement to this history will be found in that most excellent work of Dean Prideaux, entitled The Old and New Testaments connected, in the History of the Jews and Neighbouring Nations, from the Declension of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah to the time of CHRIST, 4 vols. 8vo. 1725. The editions prior to this date are not so complete.

We have already seen what the Feast of PURIM means, and why it was instituted; if the reader is desirous of farther information on this subject, he may find it in the works of Buxtorf, Leusden, Stehlin, and Calmet's Dictionary, article Pur.

MASORETIC NOTES ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER

Number of verses, 167. Middle verse, Esther 5:7. Sections, 5.

The following excellent remarks on the history of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, I borrow from Dr. John Taylor's Scheme of Scripture Divinity, and make no doubt I shall have the thanks of every reader whose thanks are worth having.

"After the Babylonish captivity, the Jews no more lapsed into idolatry, but remained steady in the acknowledgment and worship of the one living and true God. Even then they fell into new ways of perverting religion, and the wise and holy intentions of the Divine law:

1. By laying all the stress on the external and less momentous parts of it, while they neglected the weighty and substantial, true holiness of heart and life. Mankind are too easily drawn into this error; while they retain a sense of religion, they are too apt to listen to any methods by which it may be reduced to a consistency with the gratification of their passions, pride, and avarice. Thus, by placing religion in mere profession, or in the zealous observance of rites and ceremonies, instead of real piety, truth, purity, and goodness, they learn to be religious without virtue.

2. By speculating and commenting upon the Divine commands and institutions till their force is quite enervated, and they are refined into a sense that will commodiously allow a slight regard instead of sincere obedience.

3. By confirming and establishing the two former methods of corrupting religion by tradition, and the authority of learned rabbins, pretending that there was a system of religious rules delivered by word of mouth from Moses explanatory of the written law, known only to those rabbins, to whose judgment and decision, therefore, all the people were to submit.

"This in time (the space of two hundred and nineteen years) became the general state of religion among the Jews, after they had discarded idolatry: and this spirit prevailed among them for some ages (two hundred and ninety years) before the coming of Messiah; but, however, it did not interfere with the main system of Providence, or the introducing the knowledge of God among the nations, as they still continued steadfast in the worship of the true God, without danger of deviating from it.

"Thus the Jews were prepared by the preceding dispensation for the reception of the Messiah, and the just notions of religion which he was sent to inculcate; insomuch that their guilt must be highly aggravated if they rejected him and his instructions. It could not be for want of capacity, but of integrity, and must be assigned to wilful blindness and obduracy. Out of regard to temporal power, grandeur, and enjoyments, they loved darkness rather than light.

"For many ages the Jews had been well known in the Eastern empire, among the Assyrians, Chaldeans, Medes, and Persians; but till the time of Alexander the Great they had no communication with the Grecians.

"About the year before Christ 332 Alexander built Alexandria in Egypt; and to people his new city, removed thither many of the Jews, allowing them the use of their own laws and religion, and the same liberties with the Macedonians themselves. The Macedonians, who spake the Greek language, and other Greeks, were the principal inhabitants of Alexandria; from them the Jews learnt to speak Greek, which was the common language of the city, and which soon became the native language of the Jews that lived there, who on that account were called Hellenists, or Greek Jews, mentioned Acts 6:1; Acts 6:9; Acts 11:20. These Greek Jews had synagogues in Alexandria, and for their benefit the Five Books of Moses, which alone at first were publicly read, were translated into Greek, (by whom is uncertain,) and were read in their synagogues every Sabbath day; and in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, about 168 years before Christ, the prophets were also translated into Greek for the use of the Alexandrian Jews.

"This translation contributed much to the spreading the knowledge of true religion among the nations in the western parts of the world.

"For the Jews, their synagogues and worship there, after Alexander's death, dispersed almost everywhere among the nations. Ptolemy, one of Alexander's successors, having reduced Jerusalem and all Judea about 320 years before Christ, carried one hundred thousand Jews into Egypt, and there raised considerable numbers of them to places of trust and power, and several of them he placed in Cyrene and Libya. Seleucus, another of Alexander's successors, about 300 years before Christ, built Antioch in Cilicia, and many other cities, in all thirty-five, and some of the capital cities in the Greater and Lesser Asia, in all which he planted the Jews, giving them equal privileges and immunities with the Greeks and Macedonians, especially at Antioch in Syria, where they settled in great numbers, and became almost as considerable a part of that city as they were at Alexandria. On that memorable day of Pentecost (Acts 2:5; Acts 2:9; Acts 2:11-12) were assembled in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven, namely, Parthians, Medes, and Persians, of the province of Elymais, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Cyrene in Libya, and Rome, Cretes, and Arabs, who were all either Jews natural, or devout men, i.e., proselytes to the Jewish religion. And in every city of the Roman empire where Paul preached, he found a body of his countrymen the Jews, except in Athens, which was at that time, I suppose, a town of no considerable trade, which shows that the Jews and their synagogues, at the time of our Lord's appearance, were providentially scattered over all the Roman empire, and had in every place introduced more or less, among the nations the knowledge and worship of God; and so had prepared great numbers for the reception of the Gospel.

"About the time that Alexander built Alexandria in Egypt, the use of the papyrus for writing was found out in that country. This invention was so favourable to literature, that Ptolemy Soter was thereby enabled to erect a museum or library, which, by his son and successor, Philadelphus, who died two hundred and forty-seven years before Christ, was augmented to seven hundred thousand volumes. Part of this library happened to be burnt when Julius Caesar laid siege to Alexandria; but after that loss it was again much augmented, and soon grew up to be larger, and of more eminent note, than the former; till at length it was burnt and finally destroyed by the Saracens, in the year of our Lord 642. This plainly proves how much the invention of turning the papyrus into paper contributed to the increase of books, and the advancement of learning, for some ages before the coming of our Lord. Add to all this, that the world, after many changes and revolutions, was, by God's all-ruling wisdom, thrown into that form of civil affairs which best suited with the great intended alteration. The many petty states and tyrannies, whose passions and bigotry might have run counter to the schemes of Providence, were all swallowed up in one great power, the ROMAN, to which all appeals lay; the seat of which, Rome, lay at a great distance from Jerusalem, the spring from which the Gospel was to rise and flow to all nations; and therefore as no material obstruction to the Gospel could come but from one quarter, none could suddenly arise from thence, but only in process of time, when the Gospel was sufficiently opened and established, as it did not in the least interfere with the Roman polity and government.

"The Gospel was first published in a time of general peace and tranquillity throughout the whole world, which gave the preachers of it an opportunity of passing freely from one country to another, and the minds of men the advantage of attending calmly to it.

"Many savage nations were civilized by the Romans, and became acquainted with the arts and virtues of their conquerors. Thus the darkest countries had their thoughts awakened, and were growing to a capacity of receiving, at the stated time, the knowledge of true religion; so that all things and circumstances conspired now with the views of heaven, and made this apparently the fullness of time, (Galatians 4:4,) or the fittest juncture for God to reveal himself to the Gentiles, and to put an end to idolatry throughout the earth. Now the minds of men were generally ripe for a purer and brighter dispensation; and the circumstances of the world were such as favoured the progress of it." - P. 368.

Hated and despised as the Jews were among the proud Romans, and the still more proud and supercilious Greeks, their sojourning among them, and their Greek version of the Scriptures, commonly called the Septuagint, were the means of furnishing them with truer notions, and a more distinct knowledge of vice and virtue, than they ever had before. And on examination we shall find that, from the time of Alexander's conquest of Judea, a little more than three hundred years before our Lord, both Greeks and Romans became more correct in their theological opinions; and the sect of eclectic philosophers, whose aim was to select from all preceding sects what was most consistent with reason and truth, were not a little indebted to the progress which the light of God, dispensed by means of the Septuagint, had made in the heathen world. And let it be remembered, that for Jews, who were settled in Grecian countries, this version was made, and by those Jews it was carried through all the places of their dispersion.

To this version Christianity, under God, owes much. To this version we are indebted for such a knowledge of the Hebrew originals of the Old Testament, as we could never have had without it, the pure Hebrew having ceased to be vernacular after the Babylonish captivity; and Jesus Christ and his apostles have stamped an infinite value upon it by the general use they have made of it in the New Testament; perhaps never once quoting, directly, the Hebrew text, or using any other version than some copy of the Septuagint. By this version, though prophecy had ceased from the times of Ezra, Daniel, and Malachi, yet the law and the prophets were continued down to the time of Christ; and this was the grand medium by which this conveyance was made. And why is this version neglected? I hesitate not to assert that no man can ever gain a thorough knowledge of the phraseology of the New Testament writers, who is unacquainted with this version, or has not profited by such writers as derived their knowledge from it. A. CLARKE.

Millbrook, February 3, 1820. Finished the correction of this volume, Oct. 16, 1828. - A. CLARKE.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Continued prosperity (10:1-3)

The book concludes by noting the greatness of Mordecai and the benefits that he brought to the Jewish people. Under his administration, non-Jewish peoples were forced to contribute more to the Empire’s economy, so the burden on the Jews was eased (10:1-2). Mordecai continued in his position as chief minister in the government of Ahasuerus for many years, and under him the Jews had security and contentment (3).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

A FINAL NOTE ON THE GREATNESS OF MORDECAI

"And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea. And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of the brethren, seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed."

The purpose of the author in this very short chapter is that of stressing the greatness of Mordecai, the key word being that, in all the world, no one was any greater than Mordecai except the king. "Mordecai was next unto king Ahasuerus"! This required a preliminary note on how great was Ahasuerus. He was the ruler of most of the world as it was known then, from India to Ethiopia, with one hundred twenty-seven provinces, and here is added a note that he laid tribute upon the land and the isles of the sea. After the Grecian campaign, in which Xerxes suffered defeat, his dominion over the isles of the sea was reduced, but still existed. "Cyprus and Aradus were among the isles he still ruled."F. C. Cook, Barnes' Commentary Series, Esther, p. 503.

Not only was Mordecai next to king Ahasuerus, but his mighty deeds were written in the book of the chronicles of the Medo-Persian empire, along with that of their mighty kings. Incidentally, we have here the most conspicuous evidence that the Medo-Persian Empire was never two empires, but only one; the record of all their kings was in the same book!

"The author of Esther here emphasized the great power and wealth of Xerxes in order to show the marvelous providence of God in elevating a despised Jew to a position of honor and trust in such an empire."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 456.

Many things we would like to know. For example, how long did Esther remain on the throne as queen? How many years did Mordecai continue as Prime Minister? "But Esther was not written to record the lives of emperors, queens, or prime ministers, but to preserve the record of a great national deliverance of God's people, a deliverance which would bring comfort and hope to millions of Jews through millenniums of time."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 557.

"Seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed" "The meaning of these two phrases is that Mordecai procured both by word and deed the good and prosperity of his people. This is the way in which honor and fortune are attained, the way indicated in the 34th Psalm (Psalms 34:13-15), when teaching the fear of the Lord."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 3c, p. 380.

Joyce Baldwin pointed out that, "These three verses are couched in thoroughly Biblical terms. Zechariah 9:10 speaks of the Messiah that, `He shall speak peace to the nations (Zechariah 9:10)'; and no earthly ruler could have done more than to speak peace to his people."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 420.

"Speaking peace to all his seed" In all probability Mordecai was a eunuch, and therefore we understand `his seed' here to be a reference to God's Israel.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Mordecai ... was next unto king Ahasuerus - See Esther 2:5 note. Artabanus (Esther 1:14 note) was favorite toward the end of Xerxes’ reign, i. e. in his 20th and 21st years.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 10

Now chapter 10 just deals with now the exalting of Mordecai. He was made, more or less, prime minister over the Persian Empire. He was given pretty much the office and the role that Haman had had. And it is, no doubt, because of Esther and Mordecai and their position, that when Esther's husband Ahasuerus died, his son, also called Ahasuerus in the scriptures, became the next king, but Queen Esther, no doubt, had a great influence upon him, her stepson. And it was he who gave to Nehemiah the permission and all to go back and rebuild the city of Jerusalem, to restore the walls and all. The stepson of Esther is the one who gave that very important decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, the decree from which the beginning date of the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. Four hundred and eighty-three years after that date the Messiah will come. So that is, no doubt, because of the influence that Mordecai and Esther had.

Now, this brings us now to an end of a major section of the Old Testament. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

V. MORDECAI’S GREATNESS CH. 10

Perhaps the writer mentioned Ahasuerus’ tax (Esther 10:1) because Mordecai had something to do with it, or perhaps this tax reflects God’s blessing on the king for preserving the Jews (Genesis 12:3).

Appeal to the official chronicles (Esther 10:2) claimed historicity for the events recorded in Esther (cf. 1 Kings 14:19; et al.). These documents are not available to us today. They may have been Persian [Note: Moore, p. 99.] or Jewish [Note: Baldwin, p. 115.] archives.

Mordecai was one of several biblical characters whom God elevated to a position of high government rank (cf. Joseph, Daniel, and Nehemiah). Scholars have long compared the stories of Esther and Joseph because the settings of both are in countries other than Israel, as well as because of other similarities. [Note: See ibid., p. 25, n. 1, for a list of such studies.] He used his position of influence to benefit his people (Esther 10:3). However, there is no evidence that either Mordecai or Esther had any desire to return to Jerusalem and become part of God’s theocratic program there. No one prevented them from doing so either, before Esther became queen (cf. Nehemiah 2:5).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

For Mordecai the Jew was next unto Ahasuerus,.... The second man in the kingdom, the principal of the counsellors, and prime minister of state:

and great among the Jews; highly respected by them, in great honour and esteem with them, for which there was great reason:

and accepted of the multitude of his brethren; or of many, of most, of the greatest part of them; for, let a man be ever so deserving, there are some that will envy his greatness, cavil at everything done by him, and speak evil of him without any just reason:

seeking the wealth of his people; their good, their welfare and happiness, temporal and spiritual:

and speaking peace to all his seed; not only to his family, but to all the Jews who were of the same seed with him, the seed of Abraham; either speaking to them in an humble and condescending manner, being very humane, affable, and courteous; or speaking for them to the king, asking of him for them what might conduce to their peace, prosperity, and happiness. No mention is made in this history of the death and burial either of Mordecai or Esther; but the author of Cippi Hebraici says z, that Mordecai was buried in the city of Shushan, and that all the Jews in those parts assemble at his grave on the day of Purim, and sing songs, playing on tabrets and pipes, rejoicing that there was a miracle wrought; and the same writer says a, they do the like at that time at the grave of Esther, half a mile from Tzephat, read this book that bears her name, eat, drink, and rejoice. Benjamin of Tudela says b, they were both buried before a synagogue, at a place called Hamdan.

z P. 70. Ed. Hottinger. a Ib. p. 64. b Itinerar. p. 96.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea.   2 And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?   3 For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.

      We are here told,

      I. How great and powerful king Ahasuerus was. He had a vast dominion, both in the continent and among the islands, from which he raised a vast revenue. Besides the usual customs which the kings of Persia exacted (Ezra 4:13), he laid an additional tribute upon his subjects, to serve for some great occasion he had for money (Esther 10:1; Esther 10:1): The king laid a tribute. Happy is our island, that pays no tribute but what is laid upon it by its representatives, and those of its own choosing, and is not squeezed or oppressed by an arbitrary power, as some of the neighbouring nations are. Besides this instance of the grandeur of Ahasuerus, many more might be given, that were acts of his power and of his might. These however are not thought fit to be recorded here in the sacred story, which is confined to the Jews, and relates the affairs of other nations only as they fell in with their affairs; but they are written in the Persian chronicles (Esther 10:2; Esther 10:2), which are long since lost and buried in oblivion, while the sacred writings live, live in honour, and will live till time shall be no more. When the kingdoms of men, monarchs and monarchies, are destroyed, and their memorial has perished with them (Psalms 9:6), the kingdom of God among men, and the records of that kingdom, shall remain and be as the days of heaven,Daniel 2:44.

      II. How great and good Mordecai was.

      1. He was great; and it does one good to see virtue and piety thus in honour. (1.) He was great with the king, next to him, as one he most delighted and confided in. Long had Mordecai sat contentedly in the king's gate, and now at length he is advanced to the head of his council-board. Men of merit may for a time seem buried alive; but often, by some means or other, they are discovered and preferred at last. The declaration of the greatness to which the king advanced Mordecai was written in the chronicles of the kingdom, as very memorable, and contributing to the great achievements of the king. He never did such acts of power as he did when Mordecai was his right hand. (2.) He was great among the Jews (Esther 10:3; Esther 10:3), not only great above them, more honourable than any of them, but great with them, dear to them, familiar with them, and much respected by them. So far were they from envying his preferment that they rejoiced in it, and added to it by giving him a commanding interest among them and submitting all their affairs to his direction.

      2. He was good, very good, for he did good. This goodness made him truly great, and then his greatness gave him an opportunity of doing so much the more good. When the king advanced him, (1.) He did not disown his people the Jews, nor was he ashamed of his relation to them, though they were strangers and captives, dispersed and despised. Still he wrote himself Mordecai the Jew, and therefore no doubt adhered to the Jews' religion, by the observances of which he distinguished himself, and yet it was no hindrance to his preferment, nor looked upon as a blemish to him. (2.) He did not seek his own wealth, or the raising of an estate for himself and his family, which is the chief thing most aim at when they get into great places at court; but he consulted the welfare of his people, and made it his business to advance that. His power, his wealth, and all his interest in the king and queen, he improved for the public good. (3.) He not only did good, but he did it in a humble condescending way, was easy of access, courteous and affable in his behaviour, and spoke peace to all that made their application to him. Doing good works is the best and chief thing expected from those that have wealth and power; but giving good words is also commendable, and makes the good deed the more acceptable. (4.) He did not side with any one party of his people against another, nor make some his favourites, while the rest were neglected and crushed; but, whatever differences there were among them, he was a common father to them all, recommended himself to the multitude of his brethren, not despising the crowd, and spoke peace to all their seed, without distinction. Thus making himself acceptable by humility and beneficence, he was universally accepted, and gained the good word of all his brethren. Thanks be to God, such a government as this we are blessed with, which seeks the welfare of our people, speaking peace to all their seed. God continue it long, very long, and grant us, under the happy protection and influence of it, to live quiet and peaceable lives, in godliness, honesty, and charity!