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וכל3605 עבדי5650 המלך4428 אשׁר834 בשׁער8179 המלך4428 כרעים3766 ומשׁתחוים7812 להמן2001 כי3588  כן3651  צוה6680 לו  המלך4428 ומרדכי4782 לא3808  יכרע3766  ולא3808  ישׁתחוה׃7812

Ge 41:43 Php 2:10

Verse 2. The king's servants, that were in the king's gate] By servants here, certainly a higher class of officers are intended than porters; and Mordecai was one of those officers, and came to the gate with the others who were usually there in attendance to receive the commands of the king.

Mordecai bowed not] [rky al lo yichra. "He did not bow down;" nor did him reverence, hwjtŤy alw velo yishtachaveh, "nor did he prostrate himself." I think it most evident, from these two words, that it was not civil reverence merely that Haman expected and Mordecai refused; this sort of respect is found in the word [rk cara, to bow. This sort of reverence Mordecai could not refuse without being guilty of the most inexcusable obstinacy, nor did any part of the Jewish law forbid it. But Haman expected, what the Persian kings frequently received, a species of Divine adoration; and this is implied in the word hjŤ shachah, which signifies that kind of prostration which implies the highest degree of reverence that can be paid to God or man, lying down flat on the earth, with the hands and feet extended, and the mouth in the dust.

The Targum, says that Haman set up a statue for himself, to which every one was obliged to bow, and to adore Haman himself. The Jews all think that Mordecai refused this prostration because it implied idolatrous adoration. Hence, in the Apocryphal additions to this book, Mordecai is represented praying thus: "Thou knowest that if I have not adored Haman, it was not through pride, nor contempt, nor secret desire of glory; for I felt disposed to kiss the footsteps of his feet (gladly) for the salvation of Israel: but I feared to give to a man that honour which I know belongs only to my God."

Ver. 2. And the king’s servants that were in the king’s gate , etc.] Or court, all his courtiers; for it cannot be thought they were all porters, or such only that bowed and reverenced Haman ; gave him divine honours, as to a deity; for such were given to the kings of Persia f108 , and might be given to their favourites, and seems to be the case; for, though Haman might not erect a statue of himself, or have images painted on his clothes, as the Targum and Aben Ezra, for the Persians did not allow of statues and images f109 ; yet he might make himself a god, as Jarchi, and require divine worship, with leave of the king, which he had, yea, an order for it: for the king had so commanded concerning him ; which shows that it was not mere civil honour and respect, for that in course would have been given him as the king’s favourite and prime minister by all his servants, without an express order for it; this, therefore, must be something uncommon and extraordinary: but Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence ; which is a further proof that it was not mere civil honour that was required and given; for that the Jews did not refuse to give, and that in the most humble and prostrate manner, and was admitted by them, ( 1 Samuel 24:8 2 Samuel 14:4 18:28) ( 1 Kings 1:16), nor can it be thought that Mordecai would refuse to give it from pride and sullenness, and thereby risk the king’s displeasure, the loss of his office, and the ruin of his nation; but it was such kind of reverence to a man, and worship of him, which was contrary to his conscience, and the law of his God.

וכל3605 עבדי5650 המלך4428 אשׁר834 בשׁער8179 המלך4428 כרעים3766 ומשׁתחוים7812 להמן2001 כי3588  כן3651  צוה6680 לו  המלך4428 ומרדכי4782 לא3808  יכרע3766  ולא3808  ישׁתחוה׃7812