[Today’s English Version C.5; Revised Standard Version 13.12]

The style is repetitious. Mordecai first states the general truth, “You know all things.” Then he states what the Lord knows specifically about his motivation. This is expressed by a trio of near synonyms. Finally he cites the deed to which he is referring.

Insolence or pride are near synonyms. The first is the Greek word hubris that has been borrowed by English to mean “excessive pride.” The second word has very similar meaning, “arrogance, contempt.” Many languages have idiomatic expressions to convey various aspects of pride; for instance, “big head, swollen head, to beat one’s chest, to swell oneself, to act in a vain manner.”

Love of glory: the text does not state from whom Mordecai may have received glory or honor (see comments on LXX 5.11). Probably the ones who could have glorified Mordecai were people and not God. Today’s English Version makes this explicit by saying “trying to impress people.”

One of the qualities that Mordecai denies having himself, namely, arrogance, he attributes to Haman, to whom he had not bowed down (see 3.1-5).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Noss, Philip A. A Handbook on the Book of Esther — Deuterocanon: The Greek Text. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .