More than a hundred years before Ahasuerus’ accession to the throne, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had taken king Jehoiachin of Judah into exile, and with him the most educated citizens of Jerusalem. (This was eleven years before Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and took all the inhabitants into exile; see 2 Kings 24:1 – 25:30.) Mordecai’s ancestors were part of this group. This may explain why Mordecai lived in the citadel. Having come from an important and educated family, he himself was now one of the king’s officials.
King Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire, had given the Jews permission to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1–4). Why then had Mordecai and his family never returned? Whatever their reasons may have been, we should not be too hasty to condemn them. By the time of the New Testament (and perhaps already in Esther’s time), there were Jewish synagogues all across Asia. Here the God of Israel was worshipped, not only by Jews but also by many Greeks who adopted the Jewish faith.
6 who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away.