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Esther

About this book
Chapter 10

1 King Ahasuerus then imposed forced labor on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. 2 Now all the actions carried out under his authority and his great achievements, along with an exact statement concerning the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king promoted, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?⁠ 3 Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus.⁠ He was the highest-ranking Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. He worked enthusiastically for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of all his descendants.

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 41:43 and Esther 10:3

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Genesis describes how Joseph became Pharaoh’s second-in-command in Egypt. Esther echoes this language as the story ends with Mordecai ranked second to the Persian king and Joseph’s rise to power in a foreign court.

Passages

Genesis 41:43

Hebrew Bible
42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his own hand and put it on Joseph’s. He clothed him with fine linen clothes and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 Pharaoh had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, and they cried out before him, “Kneel down!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. 44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission no one will move his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Esther 10:3

Hebrew Bible
2 Now all the actions carried out under his authority and his great achievements, along with an exact statement concerning the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king promoted, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia? 3 Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. He worked enthusiastically for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of all his descendants.
200–101 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Esther

References

... It is then not only that both protagonists are good-looking, but also that both of their good looks engender nearly identical plot patterns — rises and falls in the confusing world of foreign courts, reversals of expectations amidst outside dangers and inner tensions, and ultimate deliverance from a peril that threatened so intensely. And to shrink from drawing the appropriate conclusion at this point, to hesitate concerning the intentionality of this complex relationship, would fail to deal with the completeness of the linguistic and thematic evidence. The author of the Masoretic Text of Esther knew the Joseph story, and engaged with it throughout the Megillah in sustained and productive dialogue. ...
Gabriel F. Hornung, “The Nature and Import of the Relationship between the Joseph Story in Genesis and the Book of Esther” (diss., Harvard University, 2016), 47–48.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 41:43 and Esther 10:3

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