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Esther 10 Bible study: Next to the king
Esther ends the way Kings closes a king's story, asking if it isn't "written in the book of the chronicles of the kings" (10:2). But beside the king's acts, that record holds "the full account of the greatness of Mordecai" (10:2): the man from the king's gate, now "next to King Ahasuerus", "seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his descendants" (10:3).
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“For 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.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“Esther 10 says Mordecai was great among the Jews.”
Is that in Esther 10, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
From the king's gate to next to the king
In chapter 2, "Mordecai was sitting in the king’s gate" (Esther 2:19). Haman says all he has avails him nothing "so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate" (Esther 5:13), and even after his ride through the city, "Mordecai came back to the king’s gate" (Esther 6:12). Then the king "took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai" (Esther 8:2); Mordecai "went out of the presence of the king in royal clothing" (Esther 8:15); and "Mordecai was great in the king’s house" (Esther 9:4). The book's last verse gives his place: "Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus" (10:3). Next is mishneh, a word for what is second (tap next).
Where it leads to Jesus
My peace I give to you
Esther 10:3leads toJohn 14:27
Esther's last words are of Mordecai, "seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his descendants" (10:3); earlier, letters had gone out "with words of peace and truth" (9:30). Jesus said to his disciples, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you" (John 14:27), words spoken "while still living with you" (John 14:25), before "I am going away" (John 14:28). Jesus doesn't cite Esther, and no link between the Hebrew and Greek words is claimed, so setting the two side by side is a reading, resting on a shared subject: peace spoken by a leader to those who are his. Some read 10:3 beside Jesus' words as two sayings on that subject: a man placed "next to King Ahasuerus" (10:3) spoke peace to his people, and Jesus left his peace with his disciples. Others read each in its own setting: Esther says what Mordecai did, not what his peace was, and draws no lesson from it; Jesus speaks of "My peace", given "not as the world gives" (John 14:27), and says nothing of Mordecai. Neither reading makes Mordecai a picture of Jesus, or casts him as the world in Jesus' words.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Esther 10
That was a taste
The rest of Esther 10 is waiting in Favor
- An ending in the words of Kings
- What Mordecai's greatness was for
- The book, and the letters
- Seeking good, speaking peace
- The book's three peaces
- 5 questions as you read
- 14 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Esther 10 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
גְּדוּלָּהgedullahsay ge-doo-LAH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "greatness". Strong's: "greatness; (concretely) mighty acts". "the full account of the greatness of Mordecai" (10:2). It comes three times in the Hebrew of Esther. The first is the king's own, when he "displayed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellent majesty" (Esther 1:4); the Hebrew there has this word. The second is the king's question about Mordecai, "What honor and dignity has been given to Mordecai for this?" (Esther 6:3), where dignity is this word. The last is Mordecai's (10:2). In 10:2-3 it stands beside two words of the same family: advanced (gadal) and great (gadol).
For your group
Esther 10 Bible study questions
- 1Mordecai was "next to King Ahasuerus" and "seeking the good of his people" (10:3). What place has been given to you, at work, at home or anywhere, that you could use for someone else's good?
- 2Mordecai's deed was written down (Esther 2:23), yet "Nothing has been done for him" (Esther 6:3). The book ends by pointing to "the full account of the greatness of Mordecai" (10:2). Is there good you have done, or seen done, that no one has noticed? How do you carry that?
- 3The book ends with Mordecai "speaking peace to all his descendants" (10:3). Who comes after you, in your family, church or work, and what words of peace do you want them to hear from you?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Esther 10 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home