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Esther 6 Bible study: The man whom the king delights to honor
On the night "the king couldn’t sleep" (6:1), literally, the night his sleep fled, the chronicles were read, and he heard that for Mordecai "Nothing has been done for him" (6:3). In Hebrew, all seven honors in the chapter are one word. And the king's "Let nothing fail" (6:10) is the verb of "you will surely fall before him" (6:13).
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“The king said, “What honor and dignity has been given to Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.””
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“In Esther 6, it was found written in the king's records that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh.”
Is that in Esther 6, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
The night the king couldn't sleep
"On that night, the king couldn’t sleep" (6:1) (tap sleep). The verse gives no reason, and these notes don't add one. In Hebrew it says, literally, that the king's sleep fled. What the king did is told: "He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king" (6:1) (tap book, records). "It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus" (6:2) (tap told). This is what Mordecai did in chapter 2, where "it was written in the book of the chronicles in the king’s presence" (Esther 2:23). The king asks, "What honor and dignity has been given to Mordecai for this?" (6:3) (tap honor, dignity), and the servants who attended him answer, "Nothing has been done for him" (6:3).
Where it leads to Jesus
The Father will honor him
Esther 6:3leads toJohn 12:26
Mordecai had told of two men "who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus" (6:2). When it was read to the king, he asked, "What honor and dignity has been given to Mordecai for this?" (6:3), and heard, "Nothing has been done for him" (6:3). Then he had him honored (6:10-11). Jesus said, "If anyone serves me, let him follow me. Where I am, there my servant will also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him" (John 12:26). 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: service that is honored. Some read 6:3 beside Jesus' words as two sayings on the same subject: the king asks what honor has been given for a service done for him (6:3), and Jesus says of anyone who serves him, "the Father will honor him" (John 12:26). Others read each in its own setting: Mordecai's deed was done for a king and went unrewarded until the night "the king couldn’t sleep" (6:1), and his honor was a king's clothing, horse and proclamation (6:8-11); Jesus speaks of serving him by following him, "Where I am, there my servant will also be" (John 12:26), and the book of Esther draws no lesson from Mordecai's honor. Neither reading makes the king a picture of the Father, or Mordecai a picture of Jesus' servant.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Esther 6
That was a taste
The rest of Esther 6 is waiting in Favor
- "The man whom the king delights to honor"
- Do this for Mordecai the Jew
- Found, and written, again
- Two homecomings
- The same square, other clothes
- 7 questions as you read
- 11 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 6 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
יְקָרyeqarsay ye-KAR
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "preciousness, price, honour". Strong's: "value, i.e. (concretely) wealth; abstractly, costliness, dignity". It comes seven times in this chapter, and each time the WEB has honor: in the king's first question, "What honor and dignity has been given to Mordecai for this?" (6:3); in every "the man whom the king delights to honor" (6:6, 6:7, 6:9, 6:11); and in Haman's "Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?" (6:6). It comes 17 times in the Hebrew Bible, 10 of them in Esther. The first in Esther was the king's own: "the honor of his excellent majesty" (Esther 1:4).
For your group
Esther 6 Bible study questions
- 1"Nothing has been done for him" (6:3). When has something good you did go unnoticed, and how did you carry it?
- 2Haman said in his heart, "Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?" (6:6). Where are you quick to assume that the good thing must be meant for you?
- 3After his ride through the city, "Mordecai came back to the king’s gate" (6:12). What helps you go back to ordinary faithfulness after a moment of being noticed, or of being passed over?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Esther 6 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