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Mordecai Overheard the Plot to Poison the King of Persia

The two eunuchs picked a language nobody in that courtyard was supposed to know. The man sitting at the gate knew seventy of them.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Man at the Gate
  2. Two Eunuchs and a Golden Cup
  3. The Dead Men Were Haman's
  4. The Dream of the Two Dragons
  5. What He Offered to Do
Mordecai Overheard the Plot to Poison the King of Persia Click for full size

The Man at the Gate

Mordecai sat in the gate of the king every day, and he was not there for the traffic.

His cousin was inside. She had been collected with the rest of the girls out of a hundred and twenty-seven provinces and shut into the harem, and she was living on food out of a Persian kitchen. The one thing he could still do for her was sit in the gateway and watch what went in. Seven maids attended her. He counted what they carried, and when something came through that Esther could not eat he found a way to say so.

He had prayed his whole life, and his prayers went up the way pure myrrh goes up off the coals, the resin they burned for incense in the Temple. A man with no office, no soldiers and no title, sitting on a stone bench in a doorway, was running something close to an altar out of nothing but attention.

Two Eunuchs and a Golden Cup

Bigthan and Teresh kept the door of the king's bedchamber, and they had decided to kill him.

They worked it out standing in the gate, in Chaldean, because nobody in that courtyard spoke Chaldean. "Now the king will take his afternoon sleep," one of them said, "and when he gets up he will ask for a little water. Put the deadly poison in the golden cup. He will drink it and die."

Mordecai was close enough to hear all of it, and he knew seventy languages.

He did not confront them. He got up and went in to Esther, and Esther went to the king, and she told him in Mordecai's name. The two men were questioned, the thing was found out, and they were hanged on a tree. A clerk wrote the whole business into the daily record of the reign, including who had reported it, and the book went back on its shelf, and nobody thanked anybody.

Saying a thing in the name of the man who said it is how deliverance gets into the world. Years later a king who could not sleep would send for that book, and a servant would read that page out loud to him at two in the morning.

The Dead Men Were Haman's

The two conspirators had been Haman's own counselors. Their execution cost him the men closest to him, and what he did with the loss was aim it at the Jews. He set out to blot the name of Judah from under heaven.

The grudge underneath was older. Mordecai came out of the house of Saul, and Saul had cut the Amalekites to pieces from Havilah to Shur. Haman came from what was left of them, and the hatred had been kept warm across the centuries, waiting for a Benjaminite who would not bow.

The Dream of the Two Dragons

In the second year of the reign Mordecai had dreamed, and he had told nobody but Esther, and she had been a girl then.

In the dream the ground went out from under the world. There was an earthquake, and a noise, and a sound of wailing across the whole land, and everybody living on it was in terror. Two enormous dragons came at each other, and the racket they made brought the nations running to watch. A small people lived among the watchers, and every nation standing around it rose up to wipe its memory off the face of the earth. The darkness came down thick. The small people cried out.

Then a brook of water came up between the two dragons and pushed them apart. It ran wider. It rose. It came on like the sea coming over its shore and covered the whole earth, and the sun broke out on the water, and the small people were lifted and the proud ones were put down.

He had carried that dream for years without knowing what it was for. When the decree was published he knew. "Remember the dream I told you when you were a girl," he said to Esther. "Now go in to him."

What He Offered to Do

Then he prayed, and what he said was not what a man says when he is sure he was right.

"It is known and open before the throne of Your glory," he said, "that I did not refuse to bow to that Amalekite out of pride or out of arrogance. I refused because I am afraid of You, and I would not hand Your honor to a thing made of flesh and blood. And who am I, that I would not bow to Haman? For Israel's deliverance I would lick the shoe on his foot. I would lick the dust he walks on."

He would have gone down in the road and put his mouth in the dirt of that man's path, and he would still not bend his back to him in the gate, and both of those were the same fear of the same God.

MordecaiEstherPurimNamesPrayerMidrash AggadahPirkei Derabi Eliezer
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From the tradition

Sources

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The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 50:3Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, trans. Rabbi Gerald Friedlander, London (1916) · CC-BY

It’s a powerful idea, one that the ancient rabbis explored deeply. Take Mordecai, the hero of the Purim story. His name, seemingly simple, becomes a doorway into understanding his character and his role in saving the Jewish people.

Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), dives into the layers of meaning behind Mordecai's lineage. It all starts with the verse: "Whose name was Mordecai" (Esther 2:5). But the rabbis don’t stop there. They unpack each part of his name, revealing hidden depths.

His name, Mordecai, is linked to the Hebrew words "טר לכי" (ter lekhi), meaning "pure myrrh." Why? Because his prayers ascended before God like the sweet scent of this precious spice. prayer not just as words, but as a fragrant offering.

Then comes "the son of Jair" (Esther 2:5). Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer doesn’t let that pass by either! "Jair," it says, connects to the Hebrew word "Mair," meaning "to enlighten." Mordecai enlightened the faces of scholars with his wisdom in Halakhah – Jewish law. So, he wasn’t just a political figure, but a scholar, a beacon of light in the world of Jewish thought.

And what about "the son of Shimei" (Esther 2:5)? This Shimei is the one who cursed King David. A complicated ancestor, to say the least! Nobody is perfect.

Finally, "the son of Kish" (Esther 2:5). Here, the text goes in an unexpected direction, linking Kish to the tribe of Ephraim, known for their ambidexterity – their ability to use both hands equally well, as it says in (Psalm 78:9), "The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows." What does this have to do with Mordecai? Perhaps it symbolizes his many-sided abilities, his capacity to act decisively in different ways.

Rabbi Simeon adds another layer to this fascinating portrait. He says that Mordecai knew seventy languages! Where does this come from? The text connects it to the list of those who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, mentioned in (Ezra 2:2): "Which came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua… Mordecai, Bilshan." The implication is that someone moving in such circles would need to be fluent in many tongues. More than just a linguist, Mordecai used his knowledge to protect his community. He sat at the king's gate, ensuring Esther and her maidens weren't defiled by unclean food. He was vigilant, a guardian.

And then there's the pivotal moment: Mordecai overhears two eunuchs plotting to poison the king. They speak in Aramaic (referred to here as Chaldean), thinking they won't be understood. But Mordecai understands! He informs Esther, who then tells the king in Mordecai's name, as (Esther 2:22) tells us: "And Esther told the king in Mordecai's name."

This leads to a powerful teaching: "Whosoever tells a matter in the name of its author brings redemption into the world." By giving credit where it's due, by acknowledging the source of wisdom, we bring about healing and liberation. This isn't just about intellectual honesty; it’s about creating a world where truth and justice can flourish.

So, what do we take away from this deep dive into Mordecai's name and actions? Perhaps it’s a reminder that names have power, that lineage matters, and that even seemingly small acts of vigilance and honesty can have profound consequences. And maybe, just maybe, it’s an invitation to look more closely at the stories we tell, and to always remember to give credit where credit is due.

Full source
Chronicles of Jerahmeel LXXIXChronicles of Jerahmeel (Gaster, 1899)

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Chronicles of Jerahmeel, trans. Moses Gaster (1899) · Public Domain

The hatred between Haman the Amalekite and Mordecai the Jew had deep ancestral roots. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, Mordecai was a descendant of Saul, who had destroyed the Amalekites from Havilah to Shur, slaying more than 500,000 men, women, and children. Haman descended from those same Amalekites and nursed that ancient grudge against all of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin.

While sitting at the king's gate, Mordecai overheard two Persian chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, plotting to behead Ahasuerus and deliver his head to the Macedonian king, whose empire was then at war with Persia. Mordecai told Esther, who told the king. The conspirators were hanged, but because they were Haman's counselors, their execution only deepened his rage.

Mordecai remembered a dream from the second year of Ahasuerus's reign. A great earthquake shook the earth. Two immense dragons fought each other with terrible noise while a small nation lived among the watching peoples. All the surrounding nations rose to destroy this small nation. Thick darkness fell. Then Mordecai saw a small brook of water flow between the two dragons, separating them. The brook grew into a flood like the Great Sea, covering the whole earth. The sun returned, the small nation was exalted, the proud were humbled, and peace was restored.

When Haman's plot took shape, Mordecai told Esther to remember that dream and go before the king. Then Mordecai himself prayed with extraordinary intensity: "It is well known to the throne of Thy glory, O Lord, that it was not from pride or haughtiness I refused to bow to this Amalekite. I would prostrate myself to no being except Thy holy presence. But for Israel's salvation I would lick the shoe upon his foot and the dust upon which he walks."

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