Bible Stories continued….

So I received a response from my query regarding Esther and Mordecai supposedly being the descendent’s of King Saul, and here is the reply:

Dear Sir,

This is an excellent question that I too had when writing this page. The first allusion I had to it was from a Midrash quoted in the source book Eishei HaTanach (Encyclopedia of Biblical Personalities) which quoted Targum Sheni (2:5):
“Mordechai was the son of Yair, son of Shimi, son of Shemida, son of Baanah, son of Ilah, son of Micah, son of Mephiboshet, son of [King] Saul.”
This is obviously a midrash to define the verse from Esther (2:5):
“Mordechai the Judean (the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin)”
Looking back in the first Book of Samuel (9:1-2) you find the reference to Kish as the father of Saul, and this is how it is derived:
“Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valour. And he had a son, whose name was Saul…”

The understanding is that the Midrash gives you a general chain, not citing father-son but ancestor to ancestor. It does not outrightly say it because at this point in the story it was very important to Mordechai that it not be known that Esther was of royal lineage. Therefore, at the beginning of the Purim story, he did not link his name to Saul’s directly.

I hope that this helps answer your question

Sarah Rochel Hewitt
NJOP Publications
-eom-

I double checked everything and it all is true…

Est 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;

1Sa 9:1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.
1Sa 9:2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul,….

So there we have it…..King Saul was an Ancestor of Mordecai. But how about Esther, or Hadassah, which was her original name?!

Well Esther 2:7 tells us that Esther was the daughter of Mordecai’s uncle…

Est 2:7 And he (Mordecai) brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter…

And Esther 2:15 tells us the name of Esther’s father … Abihail

Est 2:15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai…

Now I have not found any other mention of Esther’s father in the Bible except for in the book of Esther, So I do not know if Abihail was of the tribe of Benjamin, as King Saul and Mordecai were.
But I think it would be safe to assume that since Mordecai is the descendant of the Bloodline of King Saul and at the same time his uncle is the father of Esther, that there is indeed a solid connection of blood relations between King Saul and Queen Esther.