All the king's servants who are in the king's gate bow and do obeisance to Haman, as the king has commanded, yet Mordecai does not bow or do him obeisance, establishing the conflict between Mordecai and Haman and setting the stage for the personal animosity that will drive the plot. Mordecai's refusal to bow might be based on his Jewish religious conviction that such obeisance belongs only to God, or on a more personal basis that he refuses to show honor to someone unworthy of it, yet whatever the reason, his defiance becomes the occasion for Haman's rage. The verse introduces the central dramatic tension that will propel the rest of the narrative, showing how individual acts of conscience or principle can trigger disproportionate responses from those wielding power.

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