Esther 10:1

MORDECAI’S GREATNESS. Esther 10:1-3.

1. Ahasuerus laid a tribute This verse seems at first to have no special relevancy to the subject of this book. But as this additional chapter is evidently designed to point out the power and greatness of Mordecai, the writer introduces the subject by the mention of a fact which showed the vast resources of the monarch whose prime minister Mordecai was. When and for what special purpose the king levied the tribute here referred to we are not told. It seems to have been done after Mordecai became his prime minister, that is, after the twelfth year of his reign, and many have thought that it was designed to replenish his exhausted treasury after his disastrous expedition against Greece. But a general tax for that purpose would have been taken before the twelfth year of his reign, and the king’s language in Esther 3:11, does not indicate a want of money. It is better, therefore, probably, to take the verb laid ( וישׂם ) as designating customary or habitual action the king was accustomed to lay tribute, etc.

Isles of the sea It has been objected that Xerxes had no control of the islands of the Mediterranean after his war with Greece. This, however, is far from certain, for while many Greek islands revolted, Cyprus, Aradus, and the Isle of Tyre, and probably others, still remained in allegiance to the great king. But even had all his isles revolted, it would have been no strange thing for such a ruler as Xerxes to call for tribute where he had no power to collect it.