Mordecai

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Triumph of Mordechai to Est 6.11  EU . Wall painting in the synagogue of Dura Europos , mid 3rd century. Mordecai on the horse led by Haman . Ahasuerus is seated on his throne on the right

Mordechai ( Hebrew מרדכי also Mordochai) is one of the central biblical figures in the Book of Esther .

He was a Jew , son of Jaïr and belonged to the tribe of Benjamin . Mordechai lived in the Persian diaspora in Susa . There he guarded the gate of the royal palace with others and had already thwarted an attempt to murder the king. Mordechai was the cousin and at the same time the adoptive father of Ester , whom the Persian king Ahasuerus (historically: Xerxes ) had chosen as his wife and queen.

Later King Ahasuerus appointed the official Haman as the highest government official of the empire, before whom the entire royal servants had to kneel. As a Jew, Mordechai refused to kneel . Haman not only became angry at this, but also intended to murder all Jews in the empire and take their property. Haman determined the day for this with lots (Hebrew Pur), from which the name of the Jewish festival Purim is derived. Esther revealed Haman's plans and her own Jewish identity to the king, after which Haman was executed and Mordecai became one of the most respected men at the king's court, of whom all Jews were proud.

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