And all the king's servants that were in the king's gate bowed and did Haman reverence, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did [him] reverence.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Then the king's servants, who were in the king's gate, said to Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment?
The king has just raised Haman to the highest place next to the throne, and everyone at the palace gate bows as he passes — except one man. Here the other officials turn on him and demand an explanation: was this stubbornness, or obedience?
The officials treat the bow as simple loyalty to the king. But at the Persian court that bow carried more:
All the king's servants bowed down and paid him honour. They gave him the honour due to a god. Nearly all these Eastern rulers claimed divinity... As the king's representative, Haman received this same worship. But Mordecai did not bow down, because such reverence involved recognising a false god and went against the commandment of God.
The verse does not give Mordecai's reason. It hides in Haman's title, "the Agagite," which carries a long history:
Haman was the son of Hammedatha the Agagite... That is, Haman was an Amalekite. This explains why Mordecai refused to bow down before Haman. He was of that race with which the Lord had sworn to have war for ever, and which Saul was directed to completely destroy. Ex. 17:16; Deut. 25:19; 1 Sam. 15:3.
The officials charge Mordecai with defying the king. One writer answers that charge, and sets his stand beside Daniel's:
He will not bow down before the Agagite any more than Daniel would bow down before Darius. The only difference is that Daniel was forbidden to bow down before God, while Mordecai was ordered to bow down and honour Haman... This attitude is in no way pride in Mordecai. He fully recognises the rights of the ruler of the nations over him and over his people. God ordained those rights as chastening. But he does not recognise the rights of Amalek at all.
People could put a much uglier name on his refusal:
People might charge him with arrogance, blind stubbornness, stupid bigotry, and contemptible narrow-mindedness. But none of that concerned him at all. It might look like senseless folly to refuse the usual mark of respect to the highest noble in the kingdom. But that noble was an Amalekite, and that was enough for Mordecai. The apparent folly was simple obedience.
The pressure did not let up. The same writer puts the arguments into words — they sound reasonable, and cheap:
Someone might argue: "What good is it to hold up the standard when everything has fallen apart? You are only making your humiliation more obvious by your stubborn refusal to bow your head. Would it not be better to give just one nod? That will settle the matter. Haman will be satisfied, and you and your people will be safe."
The answer given for him refuses to weigh the outcome:
"I have nothing to do with consequences. They are in the hand of God. Obedience is my path, the results are with Him. It is better to die with a good conscience than to live with a bad one."
Mordecai does not argue his case. He names who he is:
Mordecai was ready to give a reason for the hope that was in him; and his simple answer was, I am a Jew! God had not forgotten His oath of old (Ex. 17), even if Israel were reaping the fruit of their sins under the Eastern kings... Mordecai refuses to give up this basic truth in the calling of Israel.
One writer weighs what such loyalty is worth when nobody else keeps it:
To be faithful when everyone else was unfaithful is a great thing in God's eyes. "You have not denied my name" is high commendation when everyone else was doing so... To stand firmly for Him in an evil day of temptation is to do great things!
One writer reads the scene as pointing forward, to a mountain and an offer of all the kingdoms:
Israel is enslaved, defenceless and rejected. All alone, the descendant of a rejected royal family resists the Agagite... Haman hates the whole people, but he aims his anger at their head — the only man who refuses to bow down before him and honour him. Here is a dim picture of Him who, at a time still future, would refuse to acknowledge Satan, when Satan showed Him the kingdoms of the earth from the mountain top.
- Command. The king ordered the bow, but it gave Haman honour that belongs to God alone. So a loyal subject could still refuse it.
- Conscience. Mordecai did not act on mood. God had sworn lasting war with Amalek, and Haman the Agagite came from that line.
- Cost. One nod would have ended the pressure. Mordecai left the consequences to God and obeyed.
- Confession. His whole defence was who he was: "I am a Jew." He would not trade that away for safety.
- Christ. One man stands while a whole court bows. He is a picture of the One who refused Satan's offer of the world's kingdoms.
And it came to pass as they spoke daily to him, and he hearkened not to them, that they informed Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand; for he had told them that he was a Jew.
Mordecai's refusal was not one dramatic moment. Day after day the king's own officials asked him why he broke the royal order. He told them he was a Jew, so they took the matter to Haman to see whether such a stand could survive.
Mordecai's whole defence fits into a few words. Those words reach back to an oath God swore long before about the people Haman came from.
Mordecai was ready to give a reason for the hope that was in him, and his simple answer was, I am a Jew! God had not forgotten His oath of old (Ex. 17), even if Israel were reaping the fruit of their sins under the Eastern kings. He had said, "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary… and he did not fear God… You shall not forget it." (Deut. 25.) So the Lord had sworn that He would have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Mordecai refuses to give up this basic truth in Israel's calling.
Commentators differ on what made the bow impossible. Some point to Haman's Amalekite descent. Others point to what the bow itself meant in that court.
They paid Haman the honour of a god. Nearly all these Eastern rulers claimed to be divine… Because Haman represented the king, people gave him that same worship. But Mordecai did not bow down, because such reverence involved the recognition of a false god and was against the commandment of God… What a noble figure! Mordecai the Jew stands upright among the servants bowing low before Haman. He showed faith in God.
The officials pressed him day after day. One writer imagines what that pressure sounded like.
The heart might plead a thousand excuses and urge a thousand reasons. It might look for an easy path, saying the Jewish system was in ruins and the Amalekite in power… "What use can it be to hold up the standard when everything has fallen apart? Your stubborn refusal to bow your head only makes your humiliation more obvious. Would it not be better to give just one nod? That will settle the matter. Haman will be satisfied, and you and your people will be safe. Do not be obstinate."
He would not listen to them. One writer imagines his reply, and it keeps two things apart: what is right, and what will follow.
"God has spoken. This is enough for me. True, we are a scattered people; but the word of the Lord is not scattered. He has not reversed His word about Amalek, nor made a peace treaty with him."… "Well then," someone might press this devoted Jew, "you will all be destroyed. You must either bow or perish." The answer is still very simple: "I have nothing to do with consequences. They are in the hand of God. Obedience is my path, the results are with Him."
To onlookers his stand looked like arrogance and bad manners. One writer meets that verdict head-on.
People might call it arrogance, blind stubbornness, stupid bigotry, and contemptible narrow-mindedness; but that was not his concern. It might look like complete folly to refuse the usual mark of respect to the highest noble in the kingdom. But that noble was an Amalekite, and that was enough for Mordecai. The apparent folly was simple obedience.
Once the officials named him as a Jew, the quarrel stopped being personal. They handed Haman not just one man but a whole people.
Of course Haman, every time he passed the gate, would notice Mordecai and his refusal to bow, and it filled him with anger. Haman was a shrewd man with a bitter hatred of all Jews, so he formed a plan to get rid of not only Mordecai, but all the Jews in the realm of King Ahasuerus.
One writer links Mordecai's refusal to a later refusal to worship.
But why did Haman hate Mordecai in the first place? The reason was that Mordecai refused to bow to him. Satan sought, but failed, to make the Son of God worship him.
- Reason. Asked why he disobeyed, Mordecai gave one answer: he was a Jew. Behind it stood God's sworn word about Amalek, which he refused to treat as out of date.
- Pressure. The test came daily, not once. The case for one small nod sounded sensible: the nation lay in ruins, Haman held power, and a bow would have kept everyone safe.
- Obedience. He separated duty from outcome. His path was obedience; the consequences he left in God's hand.
- Cost. To everyone watching, faithfulness looked like bigotry and folly. It also turned Haman's private rage into a plot against a whole people.
- Pattern. One man stands upright in a crowd of worshippers. He points on to the One who would not bow to Satan.