Esther 10: King Ahasuerus and the greatness of Mordecai
A free study, verse by verse. Text: World English Bible. Notes come from the Hebrew. How to read a study
What happens?
King Ahasuerus lays a tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea. The text then asks whether the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia. It ends by saying that Mordecai the Jew was next to the king, great among the Jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brothers. He sought the good of his people and spoke peace to all his seed (or: descendants).
Who is speaking?
God does not speak in this chapter, so nothing is in gold. The narrator tells all of it, and asks a question in verse 2. No one else speaks. God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea.
In plain English: King Ahasuerus laid a tribute (or: a tax paid in labor) on the land and on the islands (or: coasts) of the sea.
The Hebrew words: "Tribute" is mas, which the dictionary gives as "a tax in the form of forced labor". "Islands" is iy, which the dictionary gives as "dry land, a coast, an island". It is in this verse only in Esther.
What changes: With "coasts" the verse speaks of the land and the coasts of the sea. With "islands" it speaks of the land and the islands of the sea. The text does not say more.
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2Aren’t all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?
In plain English: All the acts of his power and his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him: are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?
The Hebrew words: "The book of the chronicles" is, in the Hebrew, "the book of the words of the days". The same three Hebrew words, book, words and days, are in , and here. In 6:1 the Hebrew has one more word, "records". The text does not say whether it is the same book each time.
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3For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his descendants.
In plain English: For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted by the multitude of his brothers. He sought the good of his people and spoke peace to all his descendants (the Hebrew says: his seed).
The Hebrew word: "Descendants" is zera, which the dictionary gives as "seed; figuratively, fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity". It is in 5 verses of Esther, and the WEB says "descendants" in 3 and "offspring" in 1.
What changes: The Hebrew says "his seed". It can be read as the children of Mordecai's people, or as Mordecai's own family. The text does not say which is meant.
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