He is described in Tanna Devei Eliyahu as being the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin and member of the Sanhedrin.

Mordecai's loyalty and bravery are highlighted in the story as he helps Esther foil the plot of Haman, the king's vizier, to exterminate the Jewish people.

[6] Although the details of the setting are entirely plausible and the story may even have some basis in actual events, some think that the book of Esther is a novella rather than history.

[8][9] There is general agreement that the story was created to justify the Jewish appropriation of an originally non-Jewish feast.

[3] Some scholars have defended the story as real history,[11] but others have said the attempt to find a historical kernel to the narrative "is likely to be futile".

Hoschander interpreted this as the Babylonian "Marduk-belshunu" (𒀭𒀫𒌓𒂗𒋗𒉡, dAMAR.UTU-EN-šu-nu, meaning "Marduk is their lord") "Mordecai" being thus a hypocorism.

The Pentecostal minister Finis Dake interprets the Bible verses Esther 2:5–6 to mean that Mordecai himself was exiled by Nebuchadnezzar.

[16][17] If "who had been carried into exile" refers to Mordecai, he would have had been more than 100 years old during the events described in the Book of Esther (assuming the biblical Ahasuerus is indeed Xerxes I).