2:5 Now there happened to be a Jewish man in Susa the citadel whose name was Mordecai.1 He was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite,
[2:5]1snMordecai is a pagan name that reflects the name of the Babylonian deity Marduk. Probably many Jews of the period had two names, one for secular use and the other for use especially within the Jewish community. Mordecai’s Jewish name is not recorded in the biblical text.