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Esther and Mordecai, by Aert de Gelder

Mordecai or Mordechai (Hebrew: מָרְדֳּכַי, Modern Mordekhay Tiberian Mordŏḵáy, IPA value: [mɔrdɔ̆ˈxɑj]) is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He was the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin.

Biblical account[link]

Mordecai resided in Susa (Shushan),^[1] the metropolis of Persia (now Iran). He adopted his cousin Hadassah (Esther), an orphan child, whom he brought up as his own daughter. When "young virgins" were sought, she was brought into the presence of King Ahasuerus and was made queen in the place of the exiled queen Vashti. Mordecai was referred to subsequently as one of those who "sat in the king's gate" to indicate his position of closeness to the king. While holding this office, he discovered a plot of the king's chamberlain's, eunuchs Bigthan and Teresh, to assassinate the king. Because of Mordecai's vigilance, the plot was foiled. His services to the king in this matter were duly recorded in the king's royal diary.

Haman the Agagite had been raised to the highest position at court. In spite of the king's decree that all should prostrate themselves before Haman, Mordecai refused to do so. Though the Hebrew Scriptures attest to Israelites or Jews bowing before humans out of respect and submission (e.g. Gen. 33: 3; 2 Sam. 24:8), Haman was a descendant of the Amalekites, their ancient enemies (Esther 3:1; 1 Sam. 15:8).^[2] Haman, stung by Mordecai's refusal, resolved to accomplish his death in a wholesale murder of the Jewish exiles throughout the Persian empire. Learning of Haman's scheme, Mordecai communicated with Queen Esther regarding it, and by her bold intervention the scheme was frustrated by distributing arms to the Jews of Susa and other Persian cities where they lived and clashed with Haman's militia, until the King rescinded the edict to murder the Empire's Jews. Mordecai was raised to a high rank, donned in the royal gray cloak, and Haman was executed on gallows he had by anticipation erected for Mordecai. In memory of the deliverance thus wrought for them, the Jews to this day celebrate the feast of Purim or "Lots" because of the lots that were drawn by Haman to decide whom he would first murder among the Jewish elders in Persia.

Historicity[link]

Name[link]

The Triumph of Mordecai by Pieter Lastman, 1624.

The name "Mordechai" is of uncertain origin but is considered identical to the name Marduka or Marduku attested as the name of officials in the Persian court in thirty texts (the Persepolis Texts) from the period of Xerxes I and his father Darius, and may refer to up to four individuals, one of which might very well be the biblical Mordecai.

The name is commonly interpreted as a theophoric name referring to the god Marduk with the understanding that it means "[servant/follower/devotee] of Marduk" in Aramaic. (The Book of Daniel contains similar accounts of Jews living in exile in Babylonia being assigned names relating to Babylonian gods.) Some^[who?] suggest that as Marduk was a war god, the expression "[servant] of Marduk" may simply denote a warrior - the popular translation of "warrior" is commonly found in naming dictionaries. Others note that Marduk was the creator in Babylonian mythology whence the term might have been understood by Jews to mean simply "[servant] of God".

The Talmud (Menachot 64b and 65a) relates that his full name was "Mordechai Bilshan" (which occurs in Ezra 2:2 and Nehemiah 7:7). Hoschander interpreted this as the Babylonian marduk-bel-shunu meaning "Marduk is their lord", "Mordecai" being thus a hypocoristicon.

Another interpretation of the name is that that it is of Persian origin meaning "little boy". Other suggested meanings of "contrition" (Hebrew root m-r-d), "bitter" (Hebrew root m-r) or "bruising" (Hebrew root r-d-d) are listed in Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary of the late 19th century. There is also speculation that the name is derived from Aramaic mar dochi; mar being a title address for a gentleman and dochi, meaning "one who incurs merit" (cf. Hebrew zoche).

The Talmud provides a Midrashic interpretation of the name Mordechai Bilshan as mara dachia ("pure myrrh") alluding to Exodus 30:23 and ba'al lashon ("master of languages") reminding us that as a member of the Great Assembly he was familiar with many foreign languages.

Tomb of Esther and Mordechai

In the King James Version of the deuterocanonical Greek additions to Esther, his name is spelled as Mardocheus.

Age[link]

The Pentecostal minister Finis Dake interprets the Bible verses Esther 2:5–6 ("Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jeconiah king of Judah") to mean that Mordecai himself was exiled by Nebuchadnezzar.^[3]

Biblical scholar Michael D. Coogan discusses this as an inaccuracy regarding Mordecai's age.^[4][5] In the passage, either Mordecai or his great-grandfather Kish is identified as having been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar (in 597 BC). If this refers to Mordecai, he would have had to live over a century to have witnessed the events described in the Book of Esther (assuming the biblical Ahasuerus is indeed Xerxes I).^[4] However, the verse may be read as referring not to Mordecai's exile to Babylon, but to his great-grandfather Kish's exile—a reading which many accept.^[6][7][8][9]

Prophet status[link]

The Talmud lists Mordecai and Esther as prophets.^[10] The Talmud says Mordecai prophesied in the second year of Darius.

Mordecai's genealogy in the second chapter of the Book of Esther is given as a descendant of Kish of the Tribe of Benjamin. Kish was also the name of the father of King Saul, and the Talmud accords Mordecai the status of a descendant of the first King of Israel.^[11]

The Targum Sheni gives his genealogy in more detail, as follows: "Mordecai, son of Ya'ir, son of Shim'i, son of Shmida, son of Baana, son of Eila, son of Micah, son of Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, son of Saul, son of Kish, son of Aviel, son of Tzror, son of Bechorath, son of Aphiah, son of Sh'charim, son of Uziah, son of Sheshak, son of Michael, son of Elyael, son of Amihud, son of Shephatya, son of Psuel, son of Pison, son of Malikh, son of Jerubaal, son of Yerucham, son of Chananya, son of Zavdi, son of Elpo'al, son of Shimri, son of Zecharya, son of Merimoth, son of Hushim, son of Sh'chora, son of 'Azza, son of Gera, son of Benjamin, son of Jacob the firstborn, whose name is called Israel."

See also[link]

• Marduk
• Persian Jews

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mordecai

External links[link]

• Jewish Encyclopedia: Mordecai in Esther and in Rabbinical literature

v t e Purim / פּוּרִים Overview Gragger Purim spiel Purim Torah Purim foods Hamantash Fazuelos Kreplach Mishloach manot Historical Book of Esther Esther (rl) Haman (rl) Mordecai Ahasuerus Vashti Zeresh Religious Fast of Esther Shushan Purim Purim HaMeshulash Purim Katan

Between the Buried and Me
Between the Buried and Me performing in 2010 in Puerto Rico.
Background information
Origin	Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Genres	Progressive metal, metalcore, death metal
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Lifeforce, Victory, Metal Blade
Associated acts	Glass Casket, Prayer for Cleansing
Members
Tommy Giles Rogers Paul Waggoner Dustie Waring Dan Briggs Blake Richardson
Past members
Will Goodyear Nicholas Shawn Fletcher Jason Schofield King Mark Edward Castillo Kevin Falk Shane Blay Jason Roe

Between the Buried and Me is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They have released a total of five studio albums, as well as a cover album, an EP and a live DVD/CD. A majority of the group's releases were made through Victory Records, until their shift to Metal Blade in 2011 where they released their first EP, The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues through the label on April 12, 2011.

Biography[link]

Between the Buried and Me was founded in 2000 in Raleigh, North Carolina by vocalist Thomas Giles Rogers Jr., guitarist Paul Waggoner, drummer Will Goodyear, guitarist Nick Fletcher (formerly of Empire Falls), and bassist Jason King. The band's name is derived from a section of lyrics in the Counting Crows song, "Ghost Train;" "Took the cannonball down to the ocean/Across the desert from the sea to shining sea/I rode a ladder that climbed across the nation/Fifty million feet of earth between the buried and me."^[1]

Between the Buried and Me's first release was a three-song demo, containing the tracks "Use of a Weapon", "What We Have Become", and "More of Myself to Kill". These three tracks were re-recorded for the band's self-titled debut album, released through Lifeforce Records in 2002. The album includes the track "Arsonist", a protest against the beliefs and practices of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. The song "Aspirations" became the band's first music video. At the time, the release was not widely known, but did manage to catch the attention of Victory Records, to which they later signed. Victory reissued the album in 2004 as an enhanced CD. Today, songs from the album are rarely played live.

In 2003, the band released their second studio album, The Silent Circus, featuring the singles "Mordecai", "Aesthetic", and "Camilla Rhodes".^[2] "Mordecai" was produced as their second music video. The album was re-released in 2006 with a live DVD of the band's performance at The Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on July 17, 2005. Mark Castillo played drums on The Silent Circus, replacing Will Goodyear, though for the live DVD Blake Richardson, Dustie Waring, and Dan Briggs had already joined the band, and recording for the third Between the Buried and Me album, Alaska, was already finished.

After the release of The Silent Circus, the band went through numerous members before the current lineup was assembled for Alaska. On drums, Mark Castillo was replaced by Jason Roe, and later by Blake Richardson. On guitar, Nick Fletcher was replaced by Shane Blay, and later by Dustie Waring. And on bass, Jason King (not to be confused with their engineer/producer Jamie King) was replaced by Kevin Falk, and later by Dan Briggs. This remains the current lineup.

In the summer of 2005, Between the Buried and Me released their third studio album, Alaska. The title track "Alaska" became their third music video. The album released the songs "Selkies: The Endless Obsession", "The Primer", and "Backwards Marathon" as singles. Then in the following year, the band released The Anatomy Of, a collection of covers of bands that influenced Between the Buried and Me, including Metallica, King Crimson, Pantera, Queen, Pink Floyd, Earth Crisis, Counting Crows, and Soundgarden.

In September 2007, the band released their fourth studio album, Colors. Band members have said that "it's a 65 minute opus of non stop pummeling beautiful music... we have described this release as 'new wave polka grunge'."^[3] The band has also described the album as "adult contemporary progressive death metal".^[4]

On November 6, 2008 the song "Prequel to the Sequel" was made available as downloadable content for the video game Rock Band 2, for free download to users who redeemed a one-time use code in new copies of the game.^[5] Since then, the tracks "Mordecai", "Obfuscation", "Alaska" and "Selkies: The Endless Obsession" have also been made available via the Rock Band Network.

On May 31, 2009, the group went into the studio to record their fifth original album, The Great Misdirect. They have described one song as having "a noisy Coalesce breakdown, 3/4 Mastodon groove, 9/8 The Mars Volta, Queen chromatic build up, and Megadeth chorus".^[6] Tommy Giles Rogers had stated that they planned to "out do Colors".^[7]

In early fall 2010, the group confirmed that they were recording an EP, which was cited as being a possible precursor for their next full-length album.^[8] In October 2010, they put up a video on their YouTube account with the band in the studio.^[9] January 18 a second teaser with them in the studio was posted.^[10]

On February 21, 2011, Between the Buried and Me stated their move from Victory to Metal Blade Records, on which they released their EP entitled, The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues on April 12, 2011.^[11] In May, Victory Records announced the release of a greatest hits album as a three-disc set.^[12] On January 16, 2012, Between the Buried and Me revealed that work on the part two to The Parallax has begun and it will be a full-length album rather than an EP.^[13]

Touring[link]

This article or section may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards, as This is simply an unverified list of tour dates.. You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions. (May 2009)

In early 2006, Between the Buried and Me was on tour supporting Bleeding Through along with Every Time I Die and Haste the Day. They were also on the Ozzfest 2006 Second Stage.^[14] In late 2006, they were on the Radio Rebellion Tour headlined by Norma Jean.^[15]

In September 2007, after the release of Colors, the band went on tour with Animosity and Horse the Band. Giant (now known as BraveYoung) also supported their shows in the USA. The run concluded with their November 4 appearance at the Saints and Sinners Fest in Asbury Park, New Jersey. In December 2007, they again embarked on a headlining tour, supported by August Burns Red and Behold... The Arctopus. The band were also the main support on The Dillinger Escape Plan's 2008 U.K. tour. Between the Buried and Me were one of the acts that took part at "Progressive Nation '08", the first in what became an annual progressive music festival, also featuring Dream Theater, Opeth, and 3.

Starting in summer 2008 and continuing in the fall, they performed as a supporting act for Children of Bodom's US headlining tour, alongside The Black Dahlia Murder. In early December 2008, they went on a short 4-show tour around the Carolinas and Georgia (US) with other Carolina-based bands, such as He Is Legend, Advent, and Nightbear. Between the Buried and Me finished a month-long tour of Australia on January 9 with headliners Bleeding Through, As Blood Runs Black, In Trenches and The Abandonment. In September 2009, Between the Buried and Me performed a Canadian Tour with Killswitch Engage and In Flames co-headlining, along with the support of Protest the Hero.^[16]

In early 2010, Between the Buried and Me toured across North America with Cynic, Devin Townsend, and Scale the Summit.^[17] Afterwards, they traveled to Europe supporting Lamb of God, along with Job for a Cowboy and August Burns Red.

In February 2010, Between the Buried and Me supported Mastodon along with Baroness on their US headlining tour. During the summer of 2010, they were on the Cool Tour with As I Lay Dying, Underoath, War of Ages, The Acacia Strain, Architects, Cancer Bats and Blessthefall.^[18]

In February 2011, Between the Buried and Me were confirmed to play at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival on Saturday, April 16 in Worcester, MA. They will be main support for Hatebreed. In April and May 2011 they will headline a tour featuring Job for a Cowboy, The Ocean and on select dates Cephalic Carnage.

Between the Buried and Me also announced a headline European tour beginning in Paris, France on 02 Sept 2011 and continuing throughout the mainland and into the UK, ending up in Moscow, Russia on September 30. The tour was be supported by Animals as Leaders.

In July 2011, Between the Buried and Me announced their headlining North American tour, "Saints&Sinners Tour" playing throughout November and December with Animals as Leaders and Tesseract. The band created a few medleys just for this tour, and performed songs that they hadn't played in years.

They are confirmed to play on the 2012 Summer Slaughter tour with bands like Cannibal Corpse, Periphery, and Job For A Cowboy.

Musical style and influence[link]

Between the Buried and Me's general musical style has been stated by critics to be primarily a blend of metalcore,^[19] progressive metal^[19] and death metal,^[19][20][21] along with various musical styles: "One minute the band may be playing thrash metal and the next they're flowing into death metal growls and thick guitar riffs... the metal take on things can seemingly change in a flash as lead singer Tommy Rogers flashes out his vocals and utilizes the keyboards to create something that sounds more like it should be on a Smashing Pumpkins album".^[22]

On the band's cover album, The Anatomy Of, the band pays tribute to many of their diverse influences, including Metallica, Queen, King Crimson, Soundgarden, Pantera, Pink Floyd, Earth Crisis, and The Smashing Pumpkins.^[23]

Band members[link]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Between the Buried and Me (2002, Lifeforce)
• The Silent Circus (2003, Victory)
• Alaska (2005, Victory)
• Colors (2007, Victory)
• The Great Misdirect (2009, Victory)

Other projects[link]

• Tommy Giles Rogers has an electronica side project named Giles. A music video for the song "Slumber Party" is featured on the DVD that is included on the re-release for Between the Buried and Me's second album The Silent Circus. Rogers also released a solo album on February 1, 2011, entitled Pulse. The album is credited under the name Thomas Giles.
• Dustie Waring and Blake Richardson are members of the deathcore band Glass Casket.
• Rogers and Jacob Troth run a clothing line named Jacob Rogers.
• Dan Briggs and members of Fear Before and Abigail Williams are members of an experimental supergroup named Orbs.
• Will Goodyear is now the drumline instructor for the East Carolina University Marching Pirates.^[24]
• Shane Blay is now in the Christian metalcore band Oh, Sleeper.

References[link]

External links[link]