DAWN
Daily Arts Web Nucleus
Discover the Arts! Each day a different image from the Literary, Performing, or Visual Arts representing a portion of Scripture plus an explanation with links 2014 December 17
Image 1: Illuminated Chronicle (c. 1360)
Hungarian Miniaturist (fl., c. 1360)
International Gothic Style
National Szechenyi Library, Budapest, Hungary
Image Credit: Web Gallery of Art
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Image 2: The Triumph of Mordecai (1624)
Pieter Lastman (1583-1633)
Dutch Golden Age Baroque Style; Pre-Rembrandtist School
Rembrandt House Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Image Credit: Web Gallery of Art
Explanation: Esther 6 describes the triumph of Mordecai. This is the subject of the second illustration above. The first illustration depicts a chronicle. It was by reading his chronicles that Ahasuerus found that Mordecai was worthy of great honor. And it was at that moment that the genocidal plot against the Jews began to unravel. [Traditional Patriarchal Timeline. Judges Period Chronology. Kings of Judah and Israel #1. Kings of Judah and Israel #2]. [Chronologically and Thematically Related Scriptures: Esther 7].
On the night before Esther's second feast (arranged in the previous chapter), Ahasuerus could not sleep, so he told his servants to bring his court records (his chronicles) and read them to him. In the records they read that Mordecai had saved the king's life by uncovering an assassination plot against him. When the king asked what honor and dignity had been done for Mordecai for this, his servants said that nothing had been done. At that moment Haman entered the court to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had erected. The king called Haman into his presence and asked him what should be done for the man whom the king delights to honor. Haman thought the king was referring to him, so he said that the man should be clothed with the king's garments, that he should ride on the king's horse, that the king's crown should be put on his head, and that one of the king's most noble princes should lead him through the city proclaiming "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor." The king then told Haman to do this for Mordecai (1-11). This devastated Haman emotionally; and, when he finished the task which the king assigned to him, he went home in mourning with his head covered. When he told his wife and his friends about these things, they told him that he would surely fall before Mordecai (12-13). As they said these words to Haman, the king's servants came and hastened to bring Haman to the second banquet which Esther had prepared -- the one in which she had promised to reveal her petition (14).
Esther 6
1 On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.
2 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.
4 And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
5 And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?
7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,
8 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:
9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.
11 Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
12 And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.
13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.
14 And while they were yet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.
ADDITIONAL AD LIB MATERIAL: Prose, Poetry, Writers, Visual Artists, Music, DAWN, and ILLUMINATION. ILLUMINATION features a compact, Illuminated Bible. DAWN, the page you are presently visiting, features a new image and explanation daily.
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copyright 2014, Scott Souza
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