Vindicate

[Easter 6:3] And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.
What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this - It took this long to remember to reward Mordecai for saving the king. He judged it an action worthy of regard and what ought to be rewarded, as it was the saving of his life; but had forgotten whether any royal favor had been shown to the person for it.
Servants that ministered the lords of his bedchamber then in waiting.
There is nothing done for him not on that account, nothing more than what he had; he had an office at court before, but was not advanced to anything higher on this account.
He hath had no recompenses for this great and good service, which might either happen through the king's forgetfulness; or through the envy of the courtiers; or because he was a Jew, and therefore odious and contemptible.
The law of gratitude is a law of nature. We ought particularly to be grateful to our inferiors, and not to think all their services such debts to us but that they make us indebted to them.
Two rules of gratitude may be gathered from the king’s enquiry here:
1. Better honor than nothing. If we cannot, or need not, make recommence to those who have been kind to us, yet let us do them honor by acknowledging their kindnesses and owning our obligations to them.
2. Better late than never. If we have long neglected to make grateful returns for good offices done us, let us at length bethink ourselves of our debts.
The greatest merits and the best services are often overlooked and go unrewarded among men. Little honor is done to those who best deserve it, and fittest for it, and would do most good with it. See Eccl. 9:14–16. The gaining of wealth and honor is usually a perfect lottery, in which those that venture least commonly carry off the best prize. Good services are sometimes so far from being a man’s promotion that they will not be his protection. Mordecai is at this time, by the king’s edict, doomed to destruction, with all the Jews, though it is owned that he deserved dignity. Those that faithfully serve G-d need not fear being thus ill paid.
Being in haste to confer some honor on Mordecai for what he had done.
It is the invariable custom for kings in Eastern countries to transact business before the sun is hot, often in the open air, and so Haman was in all probability come officially to attend on his master.
Honour more than to myself - who had been advanced above all the princes and nobles of the realm, and was now in such high honors both with the king and queen. He was to be at a banquet that day; and he might conclude, that by putting this question to him, he could have in view none but himself.
See how men’s pride deceives them.
1. Haman had a better opinion of his merits than there was cause for: he thought none so worthy of honors as himself. It is a foolish thing for us thus to think ourselves the only deserving persons, or more deserving than any other. The deceitfulness of our own hearts appears in nothing so much as in the good conceit we have of ourselves and our own performances, against which we should therefore constantly watch and pray.
2. He had a better opinion of his interest than there was reason for. He thought the king loved and valued no one but himself, but he was deceived. We should suspect that the esteem which others profess for us is not so great as it seems to be or as we are sometimes willing to believe it is, that we may not think too well of ourselves nor place too much confidence in others.
3. At once, being very prompt Haman thinks he is carving out honor for himself, and therefore does it very liberally
This book was written by the spirit of prophecy, because none could know the thoughts of the heart but G-d; it to be written by the Holy Ghost.
Haman advises a Royal apparel , not a whole suit of clothes, but a single garment; the purple robe, interwoven with gold as both the Targums, such as kings wore. That which Cyrus appeared in public in was half purple, and half white, and no other person besides might wear such a one for it was a capital crime with the Persians to wear any of the king's apparel.
Trebazus, an intimate of Artaxerxes, having begged an old gown of him, it was granted, on condition that he would not wear it, it being contrary to the laws of Persia; but he, regardless of the order, appeared in it at court. Which affront to the king was so resented by the Persians, that they were for punishing him severely, according to the law, had not Artaxerxes declared, that he had ordered him to appear in that dress as his fool. Hence Artabanus, though uncle to Xerxes was very unwilling to obey his orders, to put on his royal robes, sit on his throne, and sleep on his bed. So that this was a daring proposal in Haman, which he would never have ventured to have made, had it not been for the great confidence he had in the king's favour.
The horse, the kings of Persia had horses peculiar to them, and those were Nisaean horses, which were brought from Armenia, and were remarkable for their beauty. If the same law obtained in Persia as did in Judea, no man might ride on the king's horse any more than sit on his throne, or hold his scepter and perhaps this horse here was not proposed for the person to ride on, but to be led in state before him. It is afterwards said that Mordecai rode on horseback, yet it might not be on the king's horse, which might be only led; and what follows seems to confirm it. Persia was a country of horses, and the highbred charger that the king rode upon acquired, in the eyes of his venal subjects, a sort of sacredness from that circumstance.
The crown royal and which the order of the words requires, the horse being the immediate forerunner; and no mention is made of the crown afterwards, as set on the head of Mordecai. Nor would Haman have dared to advise to that, nor could it be granted; but this was what was wont to be done, to put the royal crown on the head of a horse led in state. This we are assured was a custom in Persia, as it is with the Ethiopians to this day; and so, with the Romans, horses drawing triumphal chariots were crowned. Either the royal turban, or it may be a tiara, with which, on state processions, the horse's head was adorned.
In short, he must appear in all the pomp and grandeur of the king himself, only he must not carry the scepters, the emblem of power that all the people must be made to take notice of him and do him reverence.
The king told him Mordecai the Jew the person he meant this honor for he describes by name, by nation, and by office, that there might be no mistake. This sudden reverse, however painful to Haman as an individual, is particularly characteristic of the Persian manners. It is hard to say which of the two put a greater force upon himself, proud Haman in putting this honor upon Mordecai, or humble Mordecai in accepting it: the king would have it so, and both must submit.
.Honor and restoration is well bestowed on those that are not made proud and idle by it, and will not think themselves above their business.
Hanmen gets hang on the gallow he made for Mordecai. Justice was served!
How great and good Mordecai was.
1. He was great; and it does one good to see virtue and piety thus in honor.
2. He was great with the king, next to him, as one he most delighted and confided in. Long had Mordecai sat contentedly in the king’s gate, and now at length he is advanced to the head of his council-board. Men of merit may for a time seem buried alive; but often, by some means or other, they are discovered and preferred at last. The declaration of the greatness to which the king advanced Mordecai was written in the chronicles of the kingdom, as very memorable, and contributing to the great achievements of the king. He never did such acts of power as he did when Mordecai was his right hand.
3. He was great among the Jews, not only great above them, more honorable than any of them, but great with them, dear to them, familiar with them, and much respected by them. So far were they from envying his preferment that they rejoiced in it, and added to it by giving him a commanding interest among them and submitting all their affairs to his direction.
4. He was good, very good, for he did good. This goodness made him truly great, and then his greatness gave him an opportunity of doing so much the more good.
When the king advanced him:
1. He did not disown his people the Jews, nor was he ashamed of his relation to them, though they were strangers and captives, dispersed and despised. Still he wrote himself Mordecai the Jew, and therefore no doubt adhered to the Jews’ religion, by the observances of which he distinguished himself, and yet it was no hindrance to his preferment, nor looked upon as a blemish to him.
2. He did not seek his own wealth, or the raising of an estate for himself and his family, which is the chief thing most aim at when they get into great places at court; but he consulted the welfare of his people, and made it his business to advance that. His power, his wealth, and all his interest in the king and queen, he improved for the public good.
3. He not only did good, but he did it in a humble condescending way, was easy of access, courteous and affable in his behavior, and spoke peace to all that made their application to him. Doing good works is the best and chief thing expected from those that have wealth and power; but giving good words is also commendable, and makes the good deed the more acceptable.
4. He did not side with any one party of his people against another, nor make some his favorites, while the rest were neglected and crushed. But, whatever differences there were among them, he was a common father to them all, recommended himself to the multitude of his brethren, not despising the crowd, and spoke peace to all their seed, without distinction. Thus making himself acceptable by humility and beneficence, he was universally accepted, and gained the good word of all his brethren. Thanks be to G-d, such a government as this we are blessed with, which seeks the welfare of our people, speaking peace to all their seed. G-d continue it long, very long, and grant us, under the happy protection and influence of it, to live quiet and peaceable lives, in godliness, honesty, and charity!