Mordecai

Mordecai (; also Mordechai; , IPA: ) is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He is the cousin and guardian of Esther, who became queen of Persia under the reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). The king's grand vizier Haman is offended by Mordecai because of his refusal to bow before him, and when confronted, Mordecai's excuse was simply that he was a Jew. Consequently, Haman plots to have all of Persia's Jews killed, and eventually convinces Ahasuerus to permit him to do so. Mordecai's loyalty and bravery are highlighted throughout the story as he convinces Esther to use her position as queen to foil the plot of Haman, the king's vizier, to exterminate the Jewish people. His story is celebrated in the Jewish holiday of Purim, which commemorates his victory.

The historicity of Mordecai and the other characters in the Book of Esther, is a topic of longstanding debate. Traditionally seen as historical characters, there are scholars which still ascribe to this view. A popular theory frequently discussed in scholarship suggests that the Book of Esther serves as an etiology for Purim, with Mordecai and Esther representing the Babylonian gods Marduk and Ishtar in a historicized Babylonian myth or ritual. The identification of Mordecai with a Persian official named "Marduka" mentioned in an inscription from the reign of Xerxes I is debated, with some scholars rejecting the connection while others support it due to the commonality of name and office. Even if the Marduka who was mentioned in the inscription was not Mordecai himself it shows the name was in use during that period.