5 In the fortress of Susa, there was a Jewish man named Mordecaih son of Jair, son of Shimei,i son of Kish,j a Benjaminite. 6 Kish* had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the other captives when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took King Jeconiah of Judah into exile.k 7 Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousinA Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she had no father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.l