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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comTreasury Of Scripture Knowledge - Esther 3:2 - 3:2
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
the king's servants: Dr. Shaw, speaking of the cities in the East, says, "If we quit the streets, and enter into any of the principal houses, we shall first pass through a porch, or gate-way, with benches on each side, where the master of the family receives visits, and despatches business; few persons, not even the nearest relations, having admission any farther, except upon extraordinary occasions." These servants were probably officers who here waited the king's call; and it is likely that Mordecai was one of them. Est 2:19, Est 2:21
bowed: Gen 41:43; Phi 2:10
bowed not: Yichra welo yishtachaweh, "bowed not down, nor prostrated himself," or worshipped him. Had this meant only civil reverence the king would not have needed to command it; nor would Mordecai have refused it; there was, therefore, some kind of divine honour intended, such as was paid to the Persian kings, and which even the Greeks refused, as express adoration. Est 3:1, Est 3:5; Exo 17:14, Exo 17:16; Deu 25:19; 1Sa 15:3; Psa 15:4