The Bible In Paintings, #168: MORDECAI, HERO AND GOAT

Bing Images ^ | c.2200 BC - c.95 AD | by the Father, Son & Holy Spirit

[Hebrews 11:6]

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MORDECAI,

H E R O

A N D

G O A T

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ESTHER
2 - 4
New International Version, emphases added
Abrdgd: the complete text is in your Bible


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C L I C K :

To read ESTHER 2-4 in full
To hear MAX McLEAN reading it
To hear a DRAMATIZATION of it
HIGHLY recommended by Maudeen!
To see an ANIMATION of Esther

4 8 3
B. C.

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CHAPTER 2

19 When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up.

21 During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. 22 But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther,

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who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. 23 And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.

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CHAPTER 3

1 After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. 2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.

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by PAUL ALEXANDER LEROY
"Haman and Mordecai"

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by JEAN-FRANCOIS DE TROY
"Mordecai's Disdain"

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by JAMES SHAW CROMPTON
"But Mordecai Bowed Not"

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" All the King's Servants, Except Mordecai,
Bow Down before Haman"

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3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” 4 Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.

5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. 6 Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.

8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. 9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”

10 So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. 11 “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

13 Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.

15 The couriers went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.

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CHAPTER 4

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

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by ANDY NUGENT
"Mordecai's Lament"

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by FILIPPINO LIPPI
"Mordecai Weeping"

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by PIETER JACOBSZ. PAETS
"Mordecai in Mourning Clothes"

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"Mordecai Rends His Clothes
and Puts on Sackcloth and Ashes"

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2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

4 When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.

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13 mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Image Source
by MAARTEN VAN HEEMSKERCK, 1564
"Ester Hears from Her Maids
that Mordekai Wears Mourning Clothes"

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6 So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

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"Queen Esther Ponders Mordecai’s News"

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9 Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said.

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15 mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Image Source
by FRANZ ANTON MAULBERTSCH, 1787
"Esther and Hatach"

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10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

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by HENDRIK VAN STEENWIJK II, 1616
"Esther and Mordecai"

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→ a n d…. f i n a l l y ←

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Preview of
COMING
ATTRACTIONS

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SNEAK PEEK: Next time,
ESTHER'S
BRAVERY

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R E S O U R C E S

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If you'd like to see for yourself the Bing page
which yielded most of the works above, here is the link:

Mordecai

Image Sources are provided for most individual works.
Where no attribution appears below a work,
the source did not provide the artist's name.
Works are numbered to facilitate your commenting.

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Links to three masters who painted Biblical scenes prolifically:

REMBRANDT HARMENSZOON van RIJN

GUSTAV DORÉ
241 wood engravings for
La Grande Bible de Tours

JAMES TISSOT
180 watercolors depicting Bible scenes

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Links to two Bibles with comprehensive illustrations:

The Art Bible (1896)

The Maciejowski-Morgan Bible (c.1245)

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This series keeps moving from one Bible passage to another,
so here is a fascinating and enjoyable link to assist in following along:
BIBLE TIMELINE

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Here are links to the
PREVIOUS 167 POSTS IN THIS SERIES
with descriptive titles to assist you in finding those which interest you

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Finally, what God did to initiate The Bible In Paintings:
HOW GOD STARTED THIS SERIES
BY SHOWING ME JUST ONE PICTURE

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SPECIAL THANKS
to FReeper left that other site,
who allowed God to make her His conduit
for incomparable enthusiasm, encouragement,
education, advice and technical assistance!

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NOTES ON MY SELECTION CRITERIA

A r t Q u a l i t y

The Bible and its Author are my focus, not the art: this is The Bible in Paintings, not "Great Paintings" nor even "Good Paintings." So, works need not be masterpieces to qualify for inclusion here—they don't need to be housed at the Louvre nor auctioned by Sotheby's. They only need to illustrate successfully some aspect of the Biblical text or, frankly, just tickle my fancy, which I'm always asking the Holy Spirit to guide.

Often, artists misrepresent the Scripture, but unless the error is material, licentious or heretical I usually include the artwork, trusting that the Spirit is perfectly capable of defending Himself. So, with such forgiving filters, it means that you're seeing practically everything I'm finding.

T e x t S e q u e n c i n g

The Protestant Canon does not (for several reasons) follow a strictly chronological sequence. There are many examples where, for God's good purposes, stories are told out-of-order. Nevertheless, for the sake of simplicity, clarity, and my sanity, I have chosen to proceed linearly and methodically from Genesis onward, illustrating each Bible passage as we come to it. Where two passages cover the same incident I omit the second telling, excepting the four Gospels which I will treat synoptically. Now, onward!

P a c i n g

The pace here may seem appallingly snail-like to those eager to see their favorite events illustrated. My commission is to search for art on each Bible passage in sequence: if I find enough, then it becomes the next installment, even if undramatic (but where there is little or no art, that Bible passage goes untold here).

Then, there is the human element: this is not actually a daily series, because I can only research, compose, edit and post five or six of these installments weekly. And because I only get to do this series once, I'm taking my time, chiefly by posting everything; if I find lots of art, I don't cherry-pick some and discard the rest. Rather, I line up all of them and then sort them into manageable bunches, often resulting in multiple days' episodes of the same story. Obviously, I like being thorough. Were you in a big hurry?

The Bible is a thick book, as you know; but we'll get there eventually, Lord willing—this is His project, after all. And always remember:
love, joy, peace, patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control is a fruit of the Spirit!

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Art is merely the Toy Department of Bible study,
so I'm just having fun here—I hope you are, too!
Thank you for your understanding.

Hebrews 11:6
Dan Lewis
DodgerDan
'55 '59 '63 '65 '81 '88 '20

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To be alerted to each new posting,
either reply here or FRmail me.

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[Hebrews 11:6]

At the Holy Spirit's prompting, I am surveying "Bible art" to give God glory, as many of these artists have done, and for my own amusement and learning; and I thought others might enjoy it and be blessed by it, too. My plan is to proceed methodically from left-to-right, Genesis to Revelation, as the Lord wills. Back soon with another.

The Bible encourages us to meditate on it (Ps. 1:1-3, 119:11-16, etc.); these artists have done so, and their works can assist us and enrich our own thoughts about biblical characters, incidents and concepts, and increase our faith in He who is behind it all. As you encounter and consider these images and the related Scriptures and the Spirit enlightens your understanding, please share it with us!

But it is not only oil-on-canvas that can so help us; I refer to the astonishing video series The Chosen, which strolls through the four Gospels at the most leisurely pace. The eight episodes of Season 1 are finished, and the second of a planned seven seasons is being filmed right now. I say "leisurely" because after an entire year's viewing Jesus still has only seven of the apostles (although He's preparing to call up Thomas from the minor leagues--but Thomas is skeptical, of course). Anticipating a canvas of fifty-plus hours instead of a movie's paltry two hours, The Chosen turns the characters (especially including Jesus!) into three-dimensional humans and brings the Gospels alive--you have never seen anything even remotely like it! Here is the Official Trailer.

Here is a link for free viewing of The Chosen: "Works with your phone, tablet, and you can cast to your Roku or Chromecast." Last fall I paid $34.98 for DVDs and ongoing internet access—best 35 bucks I've ever spent (I don't recall how much our marriage license cost, but then it was 43 years ago).

[Hebrews 11:6]

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P r e s e n t e d . . F o r . . Y o u r

CONSIDERATION

ENJOYMENT

& BLESSING

[sauropod]

Always enjoy your posts Dan.

‘Pod

[Hebrews 11:6]

Thanks, Dave. Afraid ol’ Mordecai isn’t enjoying it quite so much. Happy New Year!

[left that other site]

Good Morning, Dan.

On the Eve of Purim the Book of Esther is read out loud in its entirety.

The Hebrew name for this precious Book is “The Megilla” which has been carried into our own English language as an idiom meaning something really BIG that is presented or done all at once.

As in:

“I asked her how she was doing, and she gave me the whole MEGILLA about what a lousy year 2020 was! Oy Vey! As if we haven’t ALL been through the same thing!”

[Hebrews 11:6]

Mary-Lou! How are you!? (short version, if you please)

Such a nice Purim custom. Would that they'd add Isaiah 53.

We were graced once in our church by a young woman who recited for us, unaided from memory, the whole book of Esther (shorter Protestant version). I remain mightily impressed to this present moment.

[Albion Wilde]

by PAUL ALEXANDER LEROY "Haman and Mordecai"

Wow, that one is gorgeous; beautifully composed. But I don't understand the round medallions or escutcheons on the pillar to the right of Mordecai. They don't look like the realism of the rest of the painting. Two of the bottom ones are broken. Are they supposed to be mosaics? Can anyone interpret?

[Hebrews 11:6]

They don't look like the realism of the rest of the painting.

To me, they look extremely realistic (although I never noticed them until your keen eye led to your question). Note where Mordecai's heel is. We are intended to conclude that these bottom two decorations, apparently fragile, have been damaged by feet--perhaps even by Mordecai's.

So, for me, they now add to my previous appreciation for what, as you put it, is a painting that "is gorgeous; beautifully composed." My admiration of it is why it is shown first.

[left that other site]

Short Version:

“GOOD!”

The whole Megilla:

“Don’t Ask.”

I memorized 6 Gilbert & Sullivan Operas in the 6th grade.

Would that it had been Scriptures instead. I would have gotten a head start.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Would that it had been Scriptures instead. I would have gotten a head start.

I was memorizing National League batting averages and slugging percentages. Speaking of a head start, do you suppose that, during the THOUSAND YEARS upcoming, we saints shall all memorize the entire Bible and that what we've memorized now will be our head start?

[Albion Wilde]

I guess my question is, what material is he representing— pressed concrete with incised designs? The medallions just look so unusual. Love the painting regardless.

[Hebrews 11:6]

My first thought is carved ivory.

[Albion Wilde]

Interesting! Thanks!

[OneVike]

Throughout the Scriptures we see how the things men intend for evil, God turns things around, upon them.

Joseph was sold into slavery because his brothers were jealous of him, and they finally found a way to get rid of the teachers pet.

20 years laster, they are the one’s staring into the possibility of imprisonment at best, and death at the worse. Joseph elevated, they are humbled, just as his dream so many years earlier predicted. What they meant for evil, God turned it into a blessing for His people.

Pharaoh calls for the death of the first born, but God turned the table again. Instead, it was all the first born of Egypt, even the Pharaoh’s own sone died. Yet, none of the Israelites lost their first born.

Moses who was supposed to be killed as a child by the Pharaoh’s father, instead survives to witness the death of the grandson of the man who decreed he should die. Both the Father and son decreed an evil thing, yet God turned both of their evil desires into a blessing for the Israelites.

Moses is elevated to Prophet status, by those who revere him. To this day the Jews consider him second only to God, because they rejected their Messiah. Pharaoh is never to be heard from again. That is until we found the remnants of his chariots at the bottom of the Red Sea.

In all these instances, pride plays a part. Before the fall, always comes pride. Haman had a massive ego. He delighted in the respect of men. He delighted in controlling people. He delighted in his riches, in his power, in his position, and in his clever schemes. He fancied that he would be the downfall of all the Jews.

Had he only practiced love for others and humility, he wouldn’t have found himself hanging from the gallows he had built for his enemy, Mordecai. Instead, his hated enemy, assumed his position.

We always reap that which we sow. The good things that Haman planned for himself, such as his idea of how to honor the one whom the king appreciated, he ended up having to do for Mordecai. The bad things he planned for his enemies, the towering gallows for Mordecai, God used to execute him. God turned his evil plans onto a blessing for His people.

When O’ Lord, when. When will men ever learn that their schemes always turn upon themselves. Even if it seem for a Season that a scheme brightens one’s life, You O’Lord will not be mocked, for You will exact the price for their evil schemes. You O’Lord will always lift up the righteous by setting them above those who’s end is the final death. A death where the worm never turns, and the fire is never quenched. Holy be thy name O’Lord, and happy are they whom You bless with Your anointing love.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Very well argued, Chuck. God is firmly in control, managing everything--usually in spite of us. It's hilarious to watch, at this great distance, all the ironies and surprises recorded in Scripture, a few of which you mentioned, play out. Jesus enjoys it: "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your presence." Somehow, He made sure that comment got recorded, making me wonder on how many other occasions He pointed that out--He certainly had many opportunities! But we must take the hint and look for those elements in our own lives where our Lord has stage-managed, and once we recognize them to acknowledge His role and thank Him!

The writer of Esther describes in considerable detail the depraved sexual contest in which Esther participated eagerly and eventually triumphed. I have the sense that many Christians today, perhaps increasingly inured by the pervasive and ever-growing sexual perversion in today's culture, seem indifferent, in the absence of any explicit condemnation by the author, to Esther's self-abasement. We mustn't judge!

Rising from her abjectly adulterous beginning to such unaccustomed moral courage reminds me most of Rahab, who trod a similar path half a millennium earlier. Both now are rightly celebrated.

[OneVike]

Ahh, yes. Not just Rehab, but Tamar and Bathsheba as well.

One thing we learn about women in the Scriptures. Especially in the Old Testament era. Women were a commodity, that few men respected. This attitude surely must have made them feel that, IF, they had a chance to better their lot in life, even if it meant to debase themselves that history would not look down on them.

After all, I could also add another women in that mix, Abigail. Her husband Nabal was a very wealthy man with much, but when David sent his men to ask Nabal for help, he refused them. David was ready to slaughter all the male servants and Nabal himself for refusing the help.

We are told that she was intelligent and beautiful. When she heard that her husband had refused, she sent everything David asked for without her husband being aware. She even spoke ill of her husband to David, Something that would usually not fare well for women. Yet she was obviously playing David against her husband. After he learned of what his wife did though, God killed him. He died after getting drunk.

David then took her as his second wife, and she bore him a child named Daniel. We hear of her maybe once or twice more, but nothing of much importance though. Yet when you consider the story, it’s almost as scandalous as David and Bathsheba’s relationship was.

So, the author not reading too much into Esther’s actions is quite normal for the way most writers looked at these things. Nathan’s rebuke was so powerful because Uriah was an honorable man who little deserved the treatment he received.

As an aside, I find it interesting that God had the child from David and Bathsheba’s adulterous affair killed. Had the child lived, then he would have been the rightful heir of David’s throne. Under Code of Hammurabi, and levitical law, there’s an argument that the child could have been legally considered Uriah’s son and thus be the rightful heir since David had Uriah murdered. Blood line not withstanding.

If nothing else, I believe God wanted to be sure there wasn’t more problems than God had already saw David having in the next 20 years.

[Hebrews 11:6]

the author not reading too much into Esther’s actions

What I'm saying is that sometimes God's silence is loudest. When He allows us to work our own way, with the Spirit's guidance, to His intended meaning, we are affected most deeply.

[OneVike]

One last comment on this.

People think that the soap operas on television are scandalous, but they have nothing on the real life escapades we read of in the Scriptures.

It’s like a who’s who, of what went on with all the skeletons in the closet.

The difference being is the skeletons of the Scriptures are all hanging on the clothesline out front for everyone one to see.

Thus the overall lesson being that all have fallen short of the glory of God and none is innocent. Even the most celebrated Apostle of them all, Paul, either divorced his wife or she died, but he spent quite a few years slaughtering Christians.

Go ahead and do that and then ask a Church to ordain you as their Pastor or just a Deacon with the types of strict bylaws many churches have these days.

[OneVike]

When He allows us to work our own way, with the Spirit's guidance, to His intended meaning, we are affected most deeply.

True.

I could tell you tales that are only fit for a bar room about my younger years before I met my present wife in 1987.

Yet, I have learned many things, and can honestly say God has used many things in my past in a way I would not have been prepared for or useful if said things never took place.

God was moving me, even when I thought it was my own desired direction. Not in the evil or bad things I did, but I can remember many things that happened that I can only now look back and say He was there. If he wasn't, then I would not be here today.