18 Nov. King Xerxes honours Mordecai
“That same night the king could not sleep. So he gave an order for the daily court record to be brought in and read to him. It was found recorded that Mordecai had warned the king about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway and who had planned to kill the king.”
“The king asked, ‘What honour and reward have been given to Mordecai for this?’ The king’s personal servants answered, ‘Nothing has been done for Mordecai.’”
“The king said, ‘Who is in the courtyard?’ Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace. He had come to ask the king about hanging Mordecai on the platform he had prepared. The king’s personal servants said, ‘Haman is standing in the courtyard.’ The king said, ‘Bring him in.’”
“So Haman came in. And the king asked him, ‘What should be done for a man whom the king wants very much to honour?’ And Haman thought to himself, ‘Whom would the king want to honour more than me?’ So he answered the king, ‘This is what you could do for the man you want very much to honour. Have the servants bring a royal robe that the king himself has worn. And also bring a horse with a royal crown on its head, a horse that the king himself has ridden.’”
“’Let the robe and the horse be given to one of the king’s most important men. Let the servants put the robe on the man the king wants to honour, and let them lead him on the horse through the city streets. As they are leading him, let them announce: “This is what is done for the man whom the king wants to honour.”’”
“The king commanded Haman, ‘Go quickly. Take the robe and the horse just as you have said, and do all this for Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Do not leave out anything you have suggested.’ So Haman took the robe and the horse, and he put the robe on Mordecai. Then he led him on horseback through the city streets, announcing before Mordecai: ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king wants to honour!’”
“Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried home with his head covered, because he was embarrassed and ashamed. He told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends everything that had happened to him.”
“Haman’s wife and the men who gave him advice said, ‘you are starting to lose power to Mordecai. Since he is a Jew, you cannot win against him. You will surely be ruined.’ While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs came to Haman’s house and made him hurry to the banquet Esther had prepared.”
(Esther 6:1-14)
That night, the king could not sleep, so he asked for the royal chronicles to be read to him. As his servants read the daily record, Xerxes was reminded that he had not yet rewarded Mordecai for exposing the recent assassination attempt.
Consequently, the next morning, the king decided to reward Mordecai for his loyalty. As Haman arrived at the court intent on asking the king for permission to hang Mordecai, the king asked him what he should do to reward a man the king wished to honour.
Imagining that he, himself, was the man the king wished to honour, Haman suggested a lavish parade where the man to be honoured was dressed in one of the king’s royal robes, and was paraded on a royal horse through the streets of the city.
The king was delighted with this suggestion, and Haman was ordered to dress Mordecai in a royal robe and parade him through the streets of Susa on one of the kings’ horses. Haman was devastated, but carried out the king’s command before going home and sharing his humiliation with his wife and friends.
The photo shows Mordecai being honoured in a woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld for 'Die Bibel in Bildern' (1860).
You can read more @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/35-the-exiles-return-to-judah/mordecai-uncovers-a-plot-to-kill-the-king/