And every day Mordecai walked in front of the court of the harem to learn how Esther was and what was happening to her.
Esther has been taken into the king's harem, and she keeps her Jewish background quiet. Her guardian cannot follow her inside, so he walks outside the women's quarters every day for news of her.
A guardian's daily walk
Esther is inside the women's quarters, and Mordecai can only pace outside. That small, repeated action tells us what she meant to him.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinMordecai walking daily before the court of the women's house proves his great concern for his adopted daughter.
Another writer notices that Mordecai's care ran in two directions at once.
H. L. RossierMordecai himself secretly watches over Esther with touching care. This does not stop him from also watching over the person of the king, 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.
Why her people stayed unnamed
Esther's silence about her people has been judged harshly. One writer answers those charges.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThis has been called deception, extraordinary cleverness, and cowardice. It was none of these. Divine Providence arranged it this way. Since Esther's parents were dead, hiding her nationality was not difficult. If her parents had been alive, it would have been next to impossible. If people had known that she belonged to the foreign race, plots to destroy her would soon have started.
Commentators differ here. Another writer is willing to question Mordecai's motives in the whole project, while still holding that God was at work in it.
Leslie M. GrantMordecai was not content to see the Jews despised in this foreign land. He had ambitions for his adopted daughter, who might become a way for the Jews to receive more honour. This is not to be the Christian attitude, and we cannot say that God ordered Mordecai to take on this project. Mordecai's object was not the honour of God, but the blessing of the Jews. On the other hand, God was concerned about the Jews too, though He could not associate His name with them at the time.
The silence of the text
The verse tells us what Mordecai did, and passes no verdict on him.
William KellyWhatever we may think of Mordecai or of Esther in this matter, Scripture is silent here, neither accusing nor excusing. We do not have long to wait before the vital question is raised. Then the Jews must either perish, or be delivered beyond all outward hope — yet without sign, wonder, or miracle.
Two watchers, one seen and one unseen
Mordecai acts in plain view. One writer points to two more actors the book never names.
C. H. MackintoshGod was acting for Israel behind the scenes, and Mordecai was acting for God before the scenes. Notice that neither Israel's best Friend nor their worst enemy is named even once in the book of Esther. Yet the whole book is full of the actions of both.
The missing name is not a sign that God had stopped caring.
J. N. DarbyGod does not show Himself. But God holds the reins by His providence, behind the power and the mistakes of that throne to which the government of the world had fallen. He watches over the fulfilment of His purposes and over everything needed for it. And He cares for His people, whatever their condition may be or the power of their enemies.
The man in the background
One writer follows this background figure forward to what he will do next.
Michael HardtMeanwhile Mordecai is there, in the background but full of interest in Esther's well-being. At the right moment he carries out a deed of tremendous value to the king: he discovers and stops a plot. This deed will turn out to be the basis for Esther's salvation and for that of her people. It reminds us of the greatest deed ever carried out by the true Mordecai: the work of Christ on the cross.
Summary
- Hidden — Esther hides her people, and the book never names God. What is hidden in this verse runs through the whole story.
- Watching — his daily walk outside the women's court proves how much he cared for the girl he had raised.
- Behind — Mordecai acts for God in front of the scenes. God acts for His people behind them, holding the reins by His providence.
- Silent — Scripture neither accuses nor excuses Mordecai and Esther here. Commentators differ on whether his ambitions for her were right.
- Revealed — the man pacing in the background will later stop a plot against the king, and that deed becomes the basis of his people's rescue.