Mordechai Rides King Ahasuerus’ Horse, but Who Wears the Crown?

It seems implausible that the speech would describe two items worn by the king then suddenly change the subject to the honoree, who is otherwise not mentioned in this verse: “…and that a royal crown is to be placed on his head.”

The First Targum, also known as Targum Rishon, is one of two major Aramaic translations of the book Esther. It was most likely written in Palestine and contains a mix of literal renderings and expansive paraphrases of the Hebrew text. The second major targum to Esther, Targum Sheni, is a midrashic translation that was likely written in Palestine in the 7^th or 8^th century, though its provenance is disputed. See Alinda Damsma, “The Targums to Esther,” European Judaism 47.1 (2014), 127–136. Damsma notes that text editions of both Targums are available in the textual database of the Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon.

Kara published three versions of his commentary on the book of Esther, and in each case, he offers a different argument to make his interpretation fit the verse, which suggests that none of the solutions were fully satisfying. (See J. Kara, Oṣar Tob: Commentary on the Book of Esther [published by E. Hübsch, A. Jellinek, and A. Berliner, 1878]). In his first commentary (A, above), he explains אשר נתן as referring to “the crown.” In Commentary B, אשר נתן refers to the coronation day (as in the Targum):

לכך נאמר: ואשר ניתן כתר מלכות בראשו – ופתרונו: הסוס אשר רכב עליו המלך ביום שניתן כתר מלכות בראשו, ירכיבו את מרדכי עליו וזה לו יקר וגדולה.

Therefore, it states, “and that a royal crown was placed on his head” – and its meaning is: the horse that the king rode upon him on the day that the royal crown was placed on his head – let them lead Mordecai on it, and this will be for him honor and greatness.

And in Commentary C, אשר נתן refers to “the horse”:

ויאמר המן אל המלך איש אשר המלך חפץ ביקרו – בלבוש מלכות אשר לבש בו המלך וסוס אשר רכב בו המלך ואשר נתן כתר מלכות בראשו – פתרון: באותו הסוס אשר רכב עליו המלך כאשר נתן כתר מלכות בראשו.

Haman said to the king, “A man whom the king desires to honor” – “with royal clothing that the king wore and a horse that the king rode upon,” and “that the royal crown was placed on his head”  – [its] meaning: on that same horse upon which the king rode when the royal crown was placed on his head.

See also Rashbam (R. Samuel ben Meir, c. 1085–1174), who paraphrases the end of the verse, changing the word order so that אשר refers to “crown”:

 ואשר נתן כתר מלכות בראשו – כתר אשר נתן בראש של מלך.

“And on whose head a royal crown is set” – The crown that was placed on the head of the king.

R. Joseph ibn Kaspi (1280–1340) also views the phrase as referring to the king:

ואשר נתן וג׳ – היותר נאות אצלי שכנוי בראשו רומז למלך כי יש מלך שעדיין אינו מעוטר.

“And that there was placed etc.” – The most fitting, in my opinion, is that the pronominal suffix in בראשו hints to the king.

The Masoretic cantillation aligns with this reading:

יָבִ֙יאוּ֙ לְב֣וּשׁ מַלְכ֔וּת אֲשֶׁ֥ר לָֽבַשׁ־בּ֖וֹ הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וְס֗וּס אֲשֶׁ֨ר רָכַ֤ב עָלָיו֙ הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר נִתַּ֛ן כֶּ֥תֶר מַלְכ֖וּת בְּרֹאשֽׁוֹ׃

The etnahta under הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ separates the two parts of the verse. The zakef katon הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ is a lesser pause, which divides the latter half of the verse into two אֲשֶׁר sections. Both instances of אֲשֶׁר refer to the word סוּס, “a horse,” and add information about this horse—that the king rode upon it, and that a royal crown had been placed on its head.

Dr. Debby Koren has pointed out to me that another way in which ibn Ezra’s reading is more sensitive to the Hebrew is that the verse refers to “a horse,” in the indefinite, whereas the other commentators introduce “the” specific horse used on coronation day. Ibn Ezra does not press that advantage, as he writes here “the horse,” though he continues: “a horse of the king…”

Ibn Ezra also discusses and rejects the explanation based on the midrash.

See Dalia Tawil, “The Purim Panel in Dura in the Light of Parthian and Sasanian Art,” in Journal of Near Eastern Studies 38.2 (1979): 93–109.

Lewis Bayles Paton, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary of The Book of Esther, ICC (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1908), 248. He adds, incorrectly: “So, T1, T2 {the Targums),… and Jewish interpreters generally” (248). While it is possible to interpret the Targum as referring to the horse, against my explanation above, it cannot be taken as referring definitively to the horse. In addition, as discussed earlier, most traditional Jewish commentators explain that the head is the head of the king, including: Rashbam, ibn Kaspi, R. Yosef Kara; Ralbag, Ibn Yachya, the Vilna Gaon, Malbim, Lekah Tov.

See Carey A. Moore, Esther, AB 15 (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971), 64. His translation of Esther 6:8 reads: “Have them bring a royal robe which the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crown on its head” (p. 62). See also A. D. Cohen, The Five Megilloth, Soncino Books of the Bible (London: Soncino, 1971), 224; and Jon D. Levenson, Esther: A Commentary, OTL (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1997), 97. Levinson also discusses the interpretation that the passage refers to crowning the king.

ArtScroll Youth Megillah, by Nosson Scherman and Meir Zlotowitz, illustrated by Michael Horen (Rahway, NJ: ArtScroll Mesorah Publications, 1988).

The Koren Tanakh Graphic Novel: Esther, The Magerman Edition, Jordan B. Gorfinkel, creator and writer, Yael Nathan, artist, Jessica Sacks, translator (Jerusalem: Koren Publishers Jerusalem Ltd., 2023).

See Moore, Esther, who comments: “‘on its head.’ That is, on the horse’s head. For Persian horses with crowns, see the reliefs of Xerxes’ apadana at Persepolis, and on Plate 4” (p. 64). Levenson, Esther, brings both readings, and cites ibn Ezra as a source of “grammatical and ethnological support” for the interpretation that the horse is crowned (p. 97). Cohen, Five Megilloth, translates: “on whose head a royal crown is set,” and comments: “The head of the horse is meant. Assyrian reliefs depict kings’ horses with tall pointed ornaments like royal turbans on their heads” (p. 224).

The image is Plate 4 in Moore, Esther.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, “The Horse in Achaemenid Persia,” Persian Things, August 28, 2013.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, “The Horse in Achaemenid Persia,” Persian Things, August 28, 2013.

Adele Berlin, Esther: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the the New JPS Translation, The JPS Bible Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2001), 60.