מׇרְדֳּכַי

Ezra 2:2 מָרְדֳּכַ֥י Mordecai

accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the count of the men of Israel:

Here: A name built on Marduk, Babylon's chief god, and attested in Persian-period records as 'Marduka'. This is a returnee to Judah, not the Mordecai of Esther, who stayed in Susa.

Nehemiah 7:7 מָרְדֳּכַ֥י Mordecai

accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. This is the count of the men of Israel:

Esther 2:5 מָרְדֳּכַ֗י [was] Mordecai

Now there was at the citadel of Susa a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.

Esther 2:7 מָרְדֳּכַ֛י Mordecai

And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah (that is, Esther), the daughter of his uncle, because she did not have a father or mother. The young woman was lovely in form and appearance, and when her father and mother had died, Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter.

Esther 2:10 מָרְדֳּכַ֛י Mordecai

Esther did not reveal her people or her lineage, because Mordecai had instructed her not to do so.

Esther 2:11 מָרְדֳּכַי֙ Mordecai

And every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn about Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.

Esther 2:15 מָרְדֳּכַ֡י Mordecai

Now Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle from whom Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. And when it was her turn to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king’s trusted official in charge of the harem, had advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her.

Here: A Babylonian-style name built on the god Marduk. Names like this were common among Jews in the Persian Empire.

Esther 2:19 וּמָרְדֳּכַ֖י and Mordecai

When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate.

Esther 2:20 מָרְדֳּכָ֑י מָרְדֳּכַי֙ Mordecai

Esther still had not revealed her lineage or her people, just as Mordecai had instructed. She obeyed Mordecai’s command, as she had done under his care.

Esther 2:21 וּמָרְדֳּכַ֖י and Mordecai

In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, grew angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.

Esther 2:22 לְמָרְדֳּכַ֔י מָרְדֳּכָֽי׃ to Mordecai, Mordecai

When Mordecai learned of the plot, he reported it to Queen Esther, and she informed the king on Mordecai’s behalf.

Esther 3:2 וּמָ֨רְדֳּכַ֔י and Mordecai

All the royal servants at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, because the king had commanded that this be done for him. But Mordecai would not bow down or pay homage.

Esther 3:3 לְמָרְדֳּכָ֑י to Mordecai

Then the royal servants at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the command of the king?”

Esther 3:4 מָרְדֳּכַ֔י Mordecai

Day after day they warned him, but he would not comply. So they reported it to Haman to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, since he had told them he was a Jew.

Esther 3:5 מָרְדֳּכַ֔י Mordecai

When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or pay him homage, he was filled with rage.

Esther 3:6 בְּמָרְדֳּכַ֣י מָרְדֳּכָ֑י מָרְדֳּכָֽי׃ on Mordecai, Mordecai

And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.

Esther 4:1 וּמָרְדֳּכַ֗י מָרְדֳּכַי֙ and Mordecai, Mordecai

When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.

Here: Putting the name first in Hebrew marks a new scene: 'Now Mordecai, he knew...' It turns the camera from the king and Haman drinking (3:15) to the one man who understands what has happened. The name is probably Babylonian, built on the god-name Marduk: a Jew of the exile carrying a court name.

Esther 4:4 מָרְדֳּכַ֗י Mordecai

When Esther’s maidens and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, the queen was overcome with distress. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.

Esther 4:5 מָרְדֳּכָ֑י Mordecai

Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs appointed to her, and she dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what was troubling him and why.

Esther 4:6 מָרְדֳּכָ֑י Mordecai

So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the king’s gate,

Esther 4:7 מָרְדֳּכַ֔י Mordecai

and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury in order to destroy the Jews.

Esther 4:9 מָרְדֳּכָֽי׃ Mordecai

So Hathach went back and relayed Mordecai’s response to Esther.

Esther 4:10 מָרְדֳּכָֽי׃ Mordecai

Then Esther spoke to Hathach and instructed him to tell Mordecai,

Esther 4:12 לְמָרְדֳּכָ֔י to Mordecai

When Esther’s words were relayed to Mordecai,

Esther 4:13 מָרְדֳּכַ֖י Mordecai

he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews.

Esther 4:15 מָרְדֳּכָֽי׃ Mordecai

Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:

Esther 4:17 מָרְדֳּכָ֑י Mordecai

So Mordecai went and did all that Esther had instructed him.

Esther 5:9 מָרְדֳּכַ֜י מָרְדֳּכַ֖י Mordecai

That day Haman went out full of joy and glad of heart. At the king’s gate, however, he saw Mordecai, who did not rise or tremble in fear at his presence. And Haman was filled with rage toward Mordecai.

Esther 5:13 מָרְדֳּכַ֣י Mordecai

Yet none of this satisfies me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

Esther 5:14 מָרְדֳּכַי֙ Mordecai

His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows fifty cubits high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” The advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows constructed.

Here: The Jew whose refusal to bow (3:2) obsesses Haman. The name probably comes from the Babylonian god Marduk.

Esther 6:2 מָרְדֳּכַ֜י Mordecai

And there it was found recorded that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the king’s entrance, when they had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.

Here: A Babylonian-style name built on the god Marduk. Such names were normal among Jews in exile. Here he is the man whose loyalty to the king went unrewarded.

Esther 6:3 לְמָרְדֳּכַ֖י for Mordecai

The king inquired, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this act?” “Nothing has been done for him,” replied the king’s attendants.

Here: Mordecai the Jew, the man who exposed the eunuchs' plot to kill the king (2:21–23). The preposition marks him as the one who should have received the reward.

Esther 6:4 מָרְדֳּכַ֔י Mordecai

“Who is in the court?” the king asked. Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.

Esther 6:10 לְמָרְדֳּכַ֣י for Mordecai

“Hurry,” said the king to Haman, “and do just as you proposed. Take the robe and the horse to Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything that you have suggested.”

Esther 6:11 מָרְדֳּכָ֑י Mordecai

So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, “This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!”

Esther 6:12 מָרְדֳּכַ֖י Mordecai

Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.

Esther 6:13 מָרְדֳּכַ֞י Mordecai

Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him—for surely you will fall before him.”

Here: A name built on that of the Babylonian god Marduk, carried by a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin living at the Persian court (2:5). He is the man Haman meant to hang that very morning (6:4).

Esther 7:9 לְֽמָרְדֳּכַ֞י for Mordecai

Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said: “There is a gallows fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. He had it built for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.” “Hang him on it!” declared the king.

Here: The pole was meant for Mordecai, Esther's cousin and guardian. The preposition marks who it was intended for.

Esther 7:10 לְמָרְדֳּכָ֑י for Mordecai

So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.

Here: 'For Mordecai': the man the pole was meant for. The name 'Mordecai' is Babylonian in form, built on the god-name Marduk. A similar name (Marduka) turns up in Persian administrative tablets. The verse's main pause (the strong accent) falls here, which separates the reversal from the outcome.

Esther 8:1 וּמָרְדֳּכַ֗י and Mordecai

That same day King Xerxes awarded Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai entered the king’s presence because Esther had revealed his relation to her.

Here: Placed first in its clause to shift the spotlight from Esther's gift to Mordecai's new standing.

Esther 8:2 לְמָרְדֳּכָ֑י מָרְדֳּכַ֖י to Mordecai, Mordecai

The king removed the signet ring he had recovered from Haman and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai over the estate of Haman.

Esther 8:7 וּֽלְמָרְדֳּכַ֖י and to Mordecai

So King Xerxes said to Esther the Queen and Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked the Jews.

Here: Mordecai now stands in the king's presence as well. He already holds the king's signet ring and has charge of Haman's house (8:2).

Esther 8:9 מָרְדֳּכַ֣י Mordecai

At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecai’s orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush—writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.

Esther 8:15 וּמָרְדֳּכַ֞י and Mordecai

Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.

Here: The name comes first in the sentence, ahead of the verb. That puts Mordecai in the spotlight and sets his exit beside the couriers' departure in 8:14. The name probably comes from the Babylonian god Marduk, which was normal for a Jew born in exile (2:5–6).

Esther 9:3 מָרְדֳּכַ֖י Mordecai

And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen upon them.

Esther 9:4 מָרְדֳּכַי֙ מָרְדֳּכַ֖י Mordecai

For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.

Esther 9:20 מָרְדֳּכַ֔י Mordecai

Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces of King Xerxes, both near and far,

Esther 9:23 מָרְדֳּכַ֖י Mordecai

So the Jews agreed to continue the custom they had started, as Mordecai had written to them.

Esther 9:29 וּמָרְדֳּכַ֥י and Mordecai

So Queen Esther daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim.

Esther 9:31 מָרְדֳּכַ֤י Mordecai

in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed time, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established them and had committed themselves and their descendants to the times of fasting and lamentation.

Esther 10:2 מָרְדֳּכַ֔י Mordecai

And all of Mordecai’s powerful and magnificent accomplishments, together with the full account of the greatness to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?

Esther 10:3 מָרְדֳּכַ֣י Mordecai

For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews and highly favored by his many kinsmen, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

Here: A Babylonian-style name, probably built on the name of the god Marduk. It was common for Jews of the exile to carry a foreign name. The book ends on his name, not the king's.