The descent of Mordecai and of his niece Esther is disposed of in a few
words in the Scripture. But he could trace it all the way back to the
Patriarch Jacob, from whom he was forty-five degrees removed. (56)
Beside the father of Mordecai, the only ancestor of his who is
mentioned by name is Shimei, and he is mentioned for a specific reason.
This Shimei is none other then the notorious son of Gera, the rebel who
had so scoffed and mocked at David fleeing before Absalom that he would
have been killed by Abishai, if David had not generously interfered in
his favor. David's prophetic eye discerned in Shimei the ancestor of
Israel's savior in the time of Ahasuerus. For this reason he dealt
leniently with him, and on his death-bed he bade his son Solomon
reserve vengeance until Shimei should have reached old age and could
beget no more children. Thus Mordecai deserves both appellations, the
Benjamite and the Judean, for he owed his existence not only to his
actual Benjamite forebears on his father's side, but also to the Judean
David, who kept his ancestor Shimei alive. (57)
Shimei's distinction as the ancestor of Israel's redeemer was due to
the merits of his wife. When Jonathan and Ahimaaz, David's spies in his
war against his son, fled before the myrmidons of Absalom, they found
the gate of Shimei's house open. Entering, they concealed themselves in
the well. That they escaped detection was due to the ruse of Shimei's
pious wife. She quickly transformed the well into a lady's chamber.
When Absalom's men came and looked about, they desisted from searching
the place, because they reasoned, that men as saintly as Jonathan and
Ahimaaz would not have taken refuge in the private apartment of a
woman. God determined, that for having rescued two pious men He would
reward her with two pious descendants, who should in turn avert the
ruin of Israel. (58)
On his mother's side, Mordecai was, in very deed, a member of the tribe
of Judah. (59) In any event, he was a son of Judah in the true sense of
the word; he publicly acknowledged himself a Jew, and he refused to
touch of the forbidden food which Ahasuerus set before his guest at his
banquet. (60)
His other appellatives likewise point to his piety and his
excellencies. His name Mordecai, for instance, consists of Mor, meaning
"myrrh," and Decai, "pure," for he was as refined and noble as pure
myrrh. Again, he is called Ben Jair, because he "illumined the eyes of
Israel"; and Ben Kish, because when he knocked at the gates of the
Divine mercy, they were opened unto him, which is likewise the origin
of his name Ben Shimei, for he was heard by God when he offered up
prayer. (61) Still another of Mordecai's epithets was Bilshan, "master
of languages." Being a member of the great Sanhedrin he understood all
the seventy languages spoken in the world. (62) More than that, he knew
the language of the deaf mutes. It once happened that no new grain
could be obtained at Passover time. A deaf mute came and pointed with
one hand to the roof and with the other to the cottage. Mordecai
understood that these signs meant a locality by the name of
Gagot-Zerifim, Cottage-Roofs, and, lo, new grain was found there for
the 'Omer offering. On another occasion a deaf mute pointed with one
hand to his eye and with the other to the staple of the bolt on the
door. Mordecai understood that he meant a place called En-Soker, "dry
well," for eye and spring are the same word, En, in Aramaic, and Sikra
also has a double meaning, staple and exhaustion. (63)
Mordecai belonged to the highest aristocracy of Jerusalem, he was of
royal blood, and he was deported to Babylonian together with King
Jeconiah, by Nebuchadnezzar, who at that time exiled only the great of
the land. (64) Later he returned to Palestine, but remained only for a
time. He preferred to live in the Diaspora, and watch over the
education of Esther. When Cyrus and Darius captured Babylon, Mordecai,
Daniel, and the Jewish community of the conquered city accompanied King
Cyrus to Shushan, where Mordecai established his academy. (65)