In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the threshold, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
Mordecai sits at the king's gate, and from there he overhears two of the king's own doorkeepers planning to kill their master. Commentators read this short paragraph as a turning point: a conversation overheard by chance, which was no chance at all.
One writer describes what the gate was, and rejects a common guess about why Mordecai sat there:
He sat at the king's gate. By the custom of that part of the world, this was a public gathering place. People met there to hear news and to talk with friends and others. Some say Mordecai sat in the king's gate because he held a government office. That idea must be rejected as wrong.
Another writer suggests a personal reason for that spot, and sees God at work behind it:
Any citizen, it seems, could sit there, and Mordecai used that freedom to stay as near to Esther as he could. Esther had still not told anyone her nationality, obeying what Mordecai had told her. … These circumstances too are part of God's working behind the scenes.
One writer passes on an old Jewish tradition about how the two planned to do it, and adds how this king in fact died years later:
According to Jewish tradition they meant to put a poisonous reptile in the king's cup just as he was about to drink. Mordecai overheard the plot and at once told Esther, and she told the king about it in Mordecai's name. … (King Ahasuerus, Xerxes, died by assassination in 465 B.C. Artaban, the commander of his cavalry, plotted with Mithridates, the king's trusted personal attendant. Mithridates let him into the king's bedroom, and Artaban stabbed him to death while he slept.)
Why did the plotters speak freely in front of him? One writer traces it back to Esther's silence about her family:
Suppose Esther had revealed her connection to him. Suppose people had learned that Mordecai at the gate was her uncle, and she his adopted daughter. Then he would not have stayed in that unnoticed place before the gate. The plotters would have been careful. They would not have spoken where a close relative of the queen could hear them. Mordecai learned of the plan to kill the king only because nobody knew who he was, and so nobody paid him any attention.
One writer follows each link: who overheard the plot, who received the report, and what went into the royal record:
In his dealings with the royal court, he watches out for the king's welfare in the open, sitting at his gate, so as to keep any danger away from him. Esther's future depended on Ahasuerus staying alive, so Mordecai becomes the king's rescuer. Then he withdrew in silence, asking nothing for himself, and let Providence direct him — Providence was all his oppressed nation had left. It was Providence which had led those two officers of the court to speak of their plans in front of Mordecai. Providence had prepared Esther's ear to receive the news. Providence had arranged that these matters be written into the book of the chronicles in the king's own presence.
The delay in rewarding Mordecai belongs to the same plan as the discovery itself:
The traitors were found guilty. But the man who had saved the king was forgotten, oddly enough, until the hour of real need came. That delay only made his reward more certain, and made it come at last to the dismay of the enemy. Hidden providence ordered everything well, however hard things looked. Here again, as with the plotters and Mordecai, the warning that reached the king was no more accidental than the fall of Vashti or the rise of Esther. All was in the hand of Him who ruled unseen.
By the end of the chapter, a man from a scattered people has kept the world's most powerful king alive:
Strange as it sounds, the Jew becomes important to the ruling power — that is, to the Persian. And more than I have said so far: important to his safety as well as to his pleasures. For Mordecai becomes his protector, as Esther had become his wife. This we see at the close of Esther 2. The king is in debt to both. Despite all his greatness, and all the means of happiness and strength that came with it, he is in debt to the scattered people of Judah.
- Seat. Mordecai's place at the gate was a public spot, not a government post; one writer says he chose it to stay near Esther.
- Secret. Esther's hidden background kept Mordecai unknown. Being unknown is what let him overhear men who would have said nothing in front of the queen's relative.
- Plot. Two of the king's own doorkeepers turned killer. The danger to the throne stood inside the palace.
- Providence. Providence arranged every link: the talk overheard, the ear ready to hear it, the entry in the royal record. None of it was accidental.
- Reward delayed. Providence kept the rescuer forgotten, so his reward arrived at the one hour that would defeat the enemy.
And the thing became known to Mordecai, and he related it to Esther the queen, and Esther told it to the king in Mordecai's name.
Mordecai sits at the palace gate and overhears two doorkeepers plotting to kill the king. The moment looks small, but commentators see God's hand in every link of it.
The gate was no quiet corner. People there discussed the business of the kingdom, and that is how the plot reached Mordecai.
Mordecai was sitting in the gate, a place where people discussed many matters, especially the business of the kingdom. There he learned that two of the king's servants who were doorkeepers were bitter against the king and plotted his overthrow. He was able to tell this to Esther, who informed the king in Mordecai's name. The king had the matter investigated. Mordecai's warning proved true, so the two conspirators were hanged, and the incident went into the book of the chronicles of the king of Persia.
One writer traces every step of this to a single cause — who overheard the plot, whose ear received it, and what went into the royal records.
It was Providence that led those two doorkeepers to speak their plans out where Mordecai could hear. Providence had prepared Esther's ear to receive this communication. Providence had arranged that these matters be recorded in the book of the chronicles in the king's very presence. More and more, the hidden current follows its course to lead us to final deliverance under a reign of peace and righteousness.
God's name never appears anywhere in the book of Esther. One writer takes that silence as the point:
It has often been remarked that the name of God is not found in the Book of Esther. This is characteristic. God does not show Himself. But behind the power and the mistakes of that throne to which the government of the world had fallen, God holds the reins by His providence.
Esther had still not told anyone where she came from. One writer ties that silence to this verse:
Suppose Esther had revealed her connection. Suppose it had become known that Mordecai at the gate was her uncle and she his adopted daughter. Then he would not have stayed in that obscure position before the gate. Then the conspirators would have been cautious and not spoken within the hearing of such a person so closely related to the queen. Mordecai learned of the plan against the king's life only because nobody knew who he was, and so nobody paid any attention to him.
Why would an exile guard the life of the ruler who held his people captive?
Mordecai quietly watched over Esther with touching care. That did not stop him from watching over the king himself, whom God had given him as master through the fault of the people. All this is very lovely, and shows that Mordecai had a great understanding of the mind of God and a rare submission to His will. The plot of the two doorkeepers came to his knowledge while he was in the king's gate. He did not hesitate for a moment. He turned to Esther, to expose this treacherous plan and so protect the life of Ahasuerus.
Mordecai's loyalty to the king had limits. One writer lists others who drew the same kind of line:
The faithful few in the day of captivity, itself a day of confusion, carried themselves beautifully. They saw the difference between things that differed, and did not hopelessly give everything up. Daniel would advise the king, but not eat his food. Mordecai would guard the king's life, but would not bow to the Amalekite… And all this has a voice for us. Our own day, in its character of confusion, is no better than those days of the captives.
The traitors are dealt with at once. The man who saved the king gets nothing yet.
The traitors were found guilty. But the benefactor was strangely forgotten until the time of real need arose. That delay only made his reward the surer, and it came at last to the confusion of the enemy. Secret providence ordered everything rightly, however trying appearances might be.
Mordecai's words went into a book, and then nothing happened. One writer sees a wider rule at work:
Every secret thing must reach the day when it comes to light. Mordecai's word to the king about Teresh and Bigthana, the two doorkeepers, was forgotten or neglected until now. It must now be remembered… For there is nothing hidden that shall not come out. God lets nothing pass. Mordecai's act shall not always be forgotten. It shall be recognised, and that in the very face of his great adversary.
- Overheard — A gate was a place of public talk; an unknown exile heard what he was never meant to hear.
- Hidden — Nobody knew who Mordecai was, and that obscurity is what let him hear the plot.
- Passed on — Mordecai told Esther, Esther told the king, and she put his name on the warning.
- Written — The warning went into the royal records. The writers see God's hand, not luck, in every link.
- Remembered — The reward waited for the hour when it would most confound the enemy. Nothing done in loyalty is lost.
And the matter was investigated and found out; and they were both hanged on a tree. And it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.
The plot against the king ends with an inquiry, a hanging, and one line in the royal archive. That last line — a note filed away while the man who saved the king gets nothing — carries the whole book.
The verse packs a whole legal process into a few words. The king's men test the report, find it true, and act. One writer fills in what the plot involved:
According to Jewish tradition they intended to put a venomous reptile in the king's cup when he was about to drink. Mordecai overheard the plot. He told Esther at once, and she told the king in Mordecai's name. She did so guided by the divine hand, which is so evident in this remarkable history. They investigated the plot at once and found the report true. The conspirators were hanged, and the book of the Chronicles records the event.
Two men plot against the throne, the plot comes out, and punishment follows at once. One commentator reads this as a small model of a government still to come. He quotes an older translation, which reads "hanged on a tree":
Two of the king's chamberlains, who kept the door, sought to lay hands on the king, but the thing became known. An inquiry was made, and they were both hanged on a tree. We know well that in that coming day every offender will be found out and dealt with at once. It will no longer be the uncertainty of law. In that day "a king will reign in righteousness." There will be a great discovery and punishment of those who lift up their hands against the Lord.
Justice falls fast on the guilty. Nothing at all happens for the man who saved the king — and that delay is no accident:
The traitors were found guilty. But the benefactor was strangely forgotten until the hour of pressing need came. That delay only made his reward more certain, to the shame of the enemy at last. Secret providence ordered everything rightly, however trying appearances might be. Here again, as with the conspirators and Mordecai, the warning given to the king was no chance event. Neither was the fall of Vashti or the rise of Esther. All was in the hand of Him who ruled unseen.
Mordecai asks for nothing and steps back. One writer traces every link — who overheard, who carried the message, who wrote the account down — to a single hand:
In his dealings with the royal court, Mordecai openly watches out for the king's welfare. He is seated at the gate, to keep any danger from the king's person. Esther's fortune was bound up with Ahasuerus' survival, so Mordecai becomes the king's saviour. Then he quietly withdrew and asked nothing for himself. He let Providence direct him, for Providence was all that was left to his oppressed nation. It was Providence that had led those two chamberlains to talk over their plans in Mordecai's hearing. Providence had prepared Esther's ear to receive this news. Providence had arranged for these matters to be recorded in the book of the chronicles, in the king's very presence.
Nothing in this verse mentions God. One writer takes that silence as the point of the book, not a gap in it:
The book of Esther gives us another example of how God moves behind the scenes of man's little world... It is perhaps more striking when we remember that Esther is one of the two books in the Bible in which God is not mentioned. Just where God is not seen, and events move on apparently without Him, there most clearly He is at work behind the scenes.
A king's archive can preserve a good deed for years and then produce it at the right moment. One writer uses exactly this scene to explain what God does with faithfulness that nobody notices:
The Lord records for everlasting remembrance the conversation — or should we say the names and the words? — of those who were drawn to His name and to one another... An illustration of this may be found in the book of Esther. When the king could not sleep, "he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles," and they were read before the king. There they found written an act of loyalty and faithfulness by Mordecai at a time of danger to his king. He was repaid at once, and he was also used to become the saviour of his people. In the same way, but far more perfectly, the Lord has a book of remembrance written about the faithfulness of His people. He never forgets. Nothing escapes His eye or ear.
- Investigated — The king tests the report before he punishes anyone. He acts only when the plot is "found to be so."
- Written — Providence, not Mordecai, puts the good deed into the chronicles in the king's own presence.
- Forgotten — The traitors are paid at once, the benefactor not at all. The delay is deliberate, saved for the hour of need.
- Unnamed — God is never named in this book. That is where His work behind the scenes shows clearest.
- Remembered — A royal archive kept one good deed. God keeps a book of remembrance where nothing escapes His eye or ear.