Mordecai

Mordecai was a Benjaminite Jew living in Susa, the Persian capital, who raised his cousin Esther after her parents died (Esther 2:5–7). He discovered and reported a plot against King Ahasuerus, an act of loyalty recorded in the royal chronicles (Esther 2:21–23; 6:1–3). His refusal to bow before the king's vizier Haman—possibly motivated by Benjaminite pride over an Amalekite—enraged Haman and precipitated the plot to annihilate Persian Jewry (Esther 3). His persuasion of Esther to intercede ('who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?') was pivotal. After the conspiracy was exposed, he was elevated to Haman's position and instituted, with Esther, the annual festival of Purim (Esther 9:20–28). He is honored in Jewish tradition as one of the heroes of the Second Temple period.