Esther 2:21-23

1. Mordecai’s loyalty 2:21-23

We know no details concerning the identities of the assassins who tried to kill Ahasuerus or what motivated them. Extra-biblical sources have not yet clarified these matters, though the commentators love to speculate. We do know that 14 years later Ahasuerus did die at the hand of an assassin. [Note: Wiersbe, p. 715.] Mordecai’s position in the government is another evidence of God’s providential preparation to deliver His people. "Gallows" (Esther 2:23; cf. Esther 5:14; Esther 7:10) is literally "tree."

"Rather than being hanged by the neck on a modern-type gallows, the men were probably impaled on a stake or post (cf. Ezra 6:11). This was not an unusual method of execution in the Persian Empire. Darius, Xerxes’ father, was known to have once impaled 3,000 men." [Note: John A. Martin, "Esther," in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, pp. 704-5.]

Ahasuerus was careful to record the name, father, and town of anyone who demonstrated particular loyalty to his throne and to reward him quickly and generously. [Note: Herodotus, 8:90.]

"Xerxes is consumed with power yet powerless as sovereign events unfold." [Note: Breneman, p. 323.]