Esther 2:5 [Now] in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name [was] Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;
Ver. 5. Now in Shushan the palace] Not in Babylon, as Josephus doteth.
There was a certain Jew] That had not returned to Jerusalem, as he ought to have done; and as another of his name did, Ezra 2:2 .
Whose name was Mordecai] That is, pure myrrh, say some; bitter contrition, say others; he is the son of contrition, that must be the son of consolation. This Mordecai was one of those few that both lived and died with glory; being not taxed for any gross sin.
The son of Jair] Happy father in such a son; much more joy might he well be to his parents than Epaminondas was to his: and of him it might be sung,
Tοις μακαρες τε κασιγνητοι τε, κασιγνηται τε (Homer).
The son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite] He descended, then, either from some other son of Kish, the father of Saul, or else from Jonathan, Saul's son; for he only, of all the sons of Saul, left issue behind him. But the Kish here mentioned, though of his line, lived many years after Saul's father.