With the Egyptians there were several moon- deities, all masculine. The principal of these was Thoth, the god of knowledge, an attribute applied to him in consequence of the moon’s character as time-measurer (for such is the meaning of its name in the Indo-European languages). Sefekh, a goddess associated with Thoth, in all probability typified the full moon. As the wanderer, the moon was called Khunsu or Khons. Isis, Muth, and Hathor, who wear as their crowns the disc of the moon, were evidently in some manner asso- ciated with that luminary.
The worship of the moon and the other heaven! bodies is mentioned and prohibited in Dt 17°. Kissing the hand on seeing the moon (undoubtedly an act of adoration) is referred to in Job 31, and sacrifices made ‘unto the queen of heaven’ are spoken of in Jer 44, The moon- or crescent- shaped ornaments spoken of as adornments of ‘ the daughters of Zion’ in Is 318 (cf. Jg 8*-*), were
* This is the Urie (= Uriwa, the Accadian form) of Eupolemus (ap. Eusebius, Prep. Evan. 9), who says that it also bore the name of Camarina, apparently from the same root as the Arab. kamar (see below).
+ There is also a deity named Laban, mentioned as having been worshipped in the temple of Anu, in the city of Asshur. As the moon-god was the minister of Anu, the question naturally arises whether the word Laban may not, in this passage, be another name of Sin. If this be the case, Laban would be con nected with 733).
t See the elaborate article, ‘Die Melecheth des Himmels,’ by Kuenen, Gesammelte Abhandlungen, p. 186 ff., and cf. the
chapter on Al‘ Uzza in Wellhausen’s Reste drab. Heidentums3, p. 34 ff.
MOOSSIAS
MORDECAI 435
probably due to the same idolatrous tendenc. which at the time often led the chosen people
astray. See CRESCENTS. T. G. PINCHEs. MOOSSIAS (B Μοοσσείας, A Mods: Σιάς, AV Moo- sias), 1 Es 9*1=MAASEIAH, Ezr 10”,
MOPH.—See Mempuis. MORALITY.—See Eruics.
MORASHTITE (so correctly in RV, in place of Morasthite of AV ; Heb. ‘ny7(\)27; LXX in Jer ὁ Mwpadelrns, in Mic τὸν τοῦ Μωρασθεί B,.. . Μωραθεί A).—A gentilic adjective used to desig- nate the prophet Micah (Mie 11, Jer 26 [Gr. 33] 18), probably derived from Moresheth-gath (wh. see).
MORDECAI (377, Baer 27) ; Μαρδοχαῖος ; Mar- docheus, Ezr 2? Mardochar; the name denotes “ belonging to Merodach, or Marduk,’ a Babylonian deity).—1. One of the leaders of the people at the time of the return of the exiles under Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Ezr 2?, Neh 77, 1 Es 58). From a com- parison of the three lists it appears probable that the leaders were twelve in number.
2. The deliverer of the Jews in the Book of Esther. He is described as a Benjamite, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, one of the Jewish captives who had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar in the days of Jehoiachin (Est 2°-8).* Mordecai lived in Shushan (Susa), the Persian capital, and brought up as his own daughter his cousin Esther, whose parents were dead. (27). When Esther was taken into the royal harem, Mordecai forbade her to reveal her con- nexions or her nationality (2%). He was never- theless able to remain in close communication with her, and for this purpose he was constantly at the gate of the palace. Hare he discovered the plot of two eunuchs against the king, and, by informing Esther of it, procured their execution, the only reward which he himself as yet received being the entry of his name in the royal chronicles (2!**), When Haman [which see] was exalted to the rank of chief minister, Mordecai aroused his wrath by repeatedly refusing to bow before him; and, to avenge the slight, Haman procured from the king a decree for the destruction of the Jews, Mor- decai’s fellow-countrymen (3). After Esther, who had heard from her maidens of the distress of Mordecai and the Jews, had sent to inquire the cause, Mordecai, by means of the eunuch Hathach, informed her of the king’s decree, and bade her go to the king and seek for protection for her people, seuineing her that she also would be one of the victims of the massacre (4). Meanwhile, however, Haman, mortified at the continued disrespect shown to him by Mordecai, determined to antici- pate the massacre, and, preparing a high gibbet, went to the palace to obtain permission to hang Mordecai thereon. The king, who during a sleep- less night had heard the chronicles read, and thus learnt that Mordecai’s services remained unre- warded, consulted Haman, on his appearance, as to a fitting recompense for one whom the king
* The interpretation of v.6 is disputed, the relative ‘who’ being referred either to Mordecai himself, or to Kish, his great- grandfather. On chronological grounds it is practically im- possible to suppose that any one carried to Babylon in B.0, 607 should be living in the reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes) 485-465, If, on the other hand, we regard the Book of Esther as being in the main unhistorical, this difficulty ceases to be of weight. Grammatical considerations do not decide the question, for, though certainly it is more natural to refer the pronoun to Mordecai, the other construction cannot be regarded as im-
asible, if on independent grounds we are unwilling to convict