3:2a

royal servants: See note on “official” at 1:3a.

at the king’s gate: See note on 2:19b.

bowed down: Literally “prostrate oneself,” that is, a person knelt on the ground and bent forward until his head touched the ground. It was a common way of showing respect to someone very important. If such actions in your culture do not mean showing respect, you will have to add this implicit information or state the information in a footnote.

3:2b-c

The text does not explain why Mordecai refused to bow down. The only clue given is 3:4, where he seems to have told the other servants that it was because he was a Jew. Perhaps he refused to bow down because he thought this would be disobeying the second commandment (Exodus 20:4).

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