The book of Esther tells the story of the Jewish woman who became queen of Persia and saved her people from a plot to destroy them. In Esther Chapter 10, a very brief chapter, her cousin Mordecai is elevated to a place of power beside her husband, the king.
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Background to Chapter 10
To understand Esther Chapter 10, a bit of background is needed. Esther became the queen because the King of Persia, Ahasuerus, banished his former queen because she would not obey him and display herself at one of his royal parties. The king then ordered all the beautiful young girls in the land to come before him so he can pick another queen. Esther was one of those girls and the king chose her. However, Esther, an orphan who was raised by Mordecai, will not tell the king that she is Jewish.
Plot to Kill the King
At one point, Mordecai warns the king of a plot to assassinate him. The king’s life is saved, but Mordecai receives little recognition from Ahasuerus. However, Mordecai runs into trouble with the king’s Prime Minister, a man called Haman, who hates the Jews. The Prime Minister finds out that Mordecai is a Jew and plots to not only to murder him, but all the other Jews in Persia. The king, who still does not know that his own wife is a Jew, agrees to this.
Mordecai Receives a Special Position
Mordecai tells Esther of this plot and the Jews are saved through her efforts. At the very end of the story, in Esther Chapter 10, Mordecai is elevated to a high position in the court of Ahasuerus. Indeed, he is only next to the king himself when it comes to power. He is revered by the Jews who his cousin, who instituted the holiday of Purim, helped to save.
As for Haman, he gets hung on the gibbet and run through with the spike that was originally meant for Mordecai. Not only that, but the bodies of all ten of Haman’s sons, who were killed trying to exterminate the Jews, were hung as well.
Esther 10 (King James Version)
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.