Bible Strands
Esther 3:4
Day after day they warned him, but he would not comply. So they reported it to Haman to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, since he had told them he was a Jew.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Royal servants at the king’s gate repeatedly warn Mordecai about his refusal to obey the king’s command, then report his stance to Haman to test whether his Jewish identity will be tolerated.
The words — The phrase יוֹם וָ/י֔וֹם (yom va/yom) literally means “day and a day,” marking the daily repetition of the warning, while שָׁמַ֖ע (sha.Ma’) denotes “he listened” or complied, which the text explicitly says he refused to do.
The thread — This motif of daily confrontation met with steadfast refusal runs through Joseph’s resistance to Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:10) and Jonah’s repeated declaration of his Hebrew identity (Jonah 1:9).
Why it lands — The passage records a direct clash between institutional pressure and religious identity, requiring the reader to confront whether their own commitments will hold when tested repeatedly.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.
Cross-references
- Genesis 39:10 Although Potiphar’s wife spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be near her.
- Daniel 6:20 When he reached the den, he cried out in a voice of anguish, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
- Jonah 1:9 “I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”
- Daniel 6:13 Then they told the king, “Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, shows no regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed. He still makes his petition three times a day.”
- Ezra 1:3 Whoever among you belongs to His people, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem.
- Daniel 3:8 At this time some astrologers came forward and maliciously accused the Jews,
- Daniel 3:12 But there are some Jews you have appointed to manage the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—who have ignored you, O king, and have refused to serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”
- Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
- Daniel 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, firmly bound, fell into the blazing fiery furnace.