Megillah 11a — the Talmud in English

Rav Dimi bar Yitzhak opened an opening for this passage from here: ![](pamud.bmp "

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“For we are servants, and in our servitude our God did not abandon us, but extended kindness to us before the kings of Persia

to give us sustenance.”

When? In the time of Haman.

For Haman sought to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate, and the king extended kindness to us, to give us life .

Rabbi Hanina bar Pappa opened an opening for this passage from here: “You have set men over our head; we came into fire and water” .

And thus he expounds the verse:

“Into fire”—

in the days of the wicked Nebuchadnezzar,

who cast us into the furnace.

“And water”—

in the days of Pharaoh.

“And You brought us out into abundance”—

in the days of Haman.

Rabbi Yohanan opened an opening for this passage from here: “He remembered His kindness and faithfulness to the House of Israel; all the ends of the earth saw the salvation of our God.”

When did all the ends of the earth see the salvation of our God—

in the days of Mordecai and Esther,

when the salvation of God was then revealed to all the nations, for letters went throughout the entire world.

Reish Lakish opened an opening for this passage from here: “A roaring lion and a growling bear, a wicked ruler over a poor people.”

And thus he expounds the verse:

“A roaring lion”—

this is the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, as it is written concerning him: “A lion has risen from his thicket.”

“A growling bear”—

this is Ahasuerus, as it is written concerning him: “And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear”

Interpretation of the verse: And another, second beast came, resembling a bear].

And Rav Yosef taught: These are the Persians.

For they eat and drink like a bear, and are enveloped

[dressed]

in flesh like a bear, and grow hair like a bear, and have no rest like a bear.

And Ahasuerus was Persian.

“A wicked ruler”—

this is Haman.

“Over a poor people”—

these are Israel, for they are poor in mitzvot.

Rabbi Elazar opened an opening for this passage from here: “Through laziness the ceiling sinks, and through slack hands the house leaks.”

And thus he expounds the verse:

Because of the laziness that Israel had

in that generation,

that they did not engage in Torah—

the enemy of the Holy One, blessed be He, became

[a refined expression concerning the Holy One, blessed be He]

poor ,

as one who is unable to save , and they became liable to annihilation .

And “poor”—

means only poor, as it is stated: “And if he is poor, according to your valuation.” And “ceiling”—

means only

the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is stated: “Who roofs His upper chambers with water.”

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak opened an opening for this passage—

from here: “A Song of Ascents. Had not the Lord been for us—let Israel now say—had not the Lord been for us when a man rose against us.”

As it is written in this verse:

“A man” -

and not a king ,

and this was Haman .

Rava opened an opening for this passage from here: “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people sigh.”

“When they increase

[an expression of greatness]

the righteous, the people rejoice”—

this is Mordecai and Esther, as it is written: “And the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.”

“But when the wicked rule, the people sigh”—

this is Haman, as it is written: “And the city of Shushan was bewildered” .

Rav Mattana said,

that

from here

we open an opening:

“For what great nation is there that has a god so near

to it

as the Lord our God whenever we call to Him?”

Rav Ashi said: From here: “Or has a god ever tried, etc.,”

to take for Himself a nation from within a nation, through trials, signs, and wonders, etc., according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes” .

“And it was in the days of Ahasuerus.” Rav said: Woe and mourning ,

an expression of distress.

This

is

as it is written: “And you shall be sold there to your enemies as servants and maidservants, etc.,”

for the end of the verse is: “and there will be no buyer.” Haman decreed that no one would be permitted to buy a slave from them.

And Shmuel said

[he opened an opening] from this verse:

“Yet despite this I will not reject them, nor will I abhor them, to destroy them.”

And thus he expounds it:

“I will not reject them”—

in the days of the Greeks.

“Nor will I abhor them”—

in the days of Vespasian.

“To destroy them”—

in the days of Haman.

“To annul My covenant with them”—

in the days of the Romans.

“For I am the Lord their God”—

in the days of Gog and Magog.

In the matnita a tanna taught

as follows:

“I will not reject them”—

in the days of the Chaldeans. For I appointed for them

the

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah .

“Nor will I abhor them”—

in the days of the Greeks. For I appointed for them

the

Shimon the Righteous, and the Hasmonean and his sons, and Mattathias the High Priest.

“To destroy them”—

in the days of Haman. For I appointed for them

the

Mordecai and Esther.

“To annul My covenant with them”—

in the days of the Persians .

For I appointed for them the house of Rabbi and the sages of the generations.

“For I am the Lord their God”—

in the future, when

no nation or tongue will be able to rule over them.

Rabbi Levi said

[he opened an opening]

from here: “And if you do not dispossess the inhabitants of the land

etc., and it shall be that those whom you leave over from them, etc., will harass you, etc.’”

For here too, Israel in that generation were punished because Saul had taken pity on Amalek .

Rabbi Hiyya said from here,

from the end of that verse, where it is written:

“And it shall be that just as I intended to do to them—

so I will do to you.”

And Israel too, in that generation of Ahasuerus, were nearly annihilated.

“Ahasuerus” —

Rav said: The brother of the head,

that is, resembling him.

And the counterpart

[the one of his fortune]

of the head.

For both of them had one opinion, as follows:

The brother of the head—

the brother of the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, who was called “head,” as it is stated

that Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar:

“You are the head of gold”

[you are the golden head of the statue that appeared to me in a dream].

And in what way was Ahasuerus

the counterpart of the head?

He

—Nebuchadnezzar—

killed

many of the children of Israel. And likewise

he

—Ahasuerus—

sought to kill.

He

—Nebuchadnezzar—

destroyed

the Temple. And likewise

he

—Ahasuerus—

sought to destroy

the foundation that Zerubbabel built in the days of Cyrus [who reigned before Ahasuerus].

As it is stated: “And in the reign of Ahasuerus, at the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem,”

meaning that he was an adversary to them, so that they would not build the Temple.

And Shmuel said

that thus we expound the name “Ahasuerus”:

that the faces of Israel were blackened in his days

like the bottom of a pot .

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Whoever remembers him,

Ahasuerus,

says: Woe

[oh no ]

to his head!

[that is, to the king’s head; alternatively, woe and distress to the head of the one who remembers him. Maharsha].

And Rabbi Hanina said: Everyone became impoverished in his days. As it is stated: “And King Ahasuerus imposed a tax.”

And we expound it as follows: “Ah”—for they were all crying out “Ah”; “and rosh”—because they became impoverished in his days [Maharsha].

And since it is written:

“He is Ahasuerus”

we expound:

He remained in his wickedness from beginning to end .

“He is Esau”—

he remained in his wickedness from beginning to end.

“He is Dathan and Abiram”—

they remained in their wickedness from beginning to end.

“He is King Ahaz”—

he remained in his wickedness from beginning to end.

And likewise we expound concerning the righteous, regarding whom it is written “he is”:

“Abram is Abraham”—

he remained in his righteousness from beginning to end.

“He is Aaron and Moses”—

they remained in their righteousness from beginning to end.

“And David was the youngest”—

he remained in his smallness from beginning to end.

Just as in his smallness,

before he reigned,

he made himself small before one who was greater than he in Torah, so too in his reign he made himself small before one who was greater than he in wisdom.

“Who reigned.” Rav said: Who reigned on his own ,

even though he was not of royal descent .

Some say

they say this

with regard to this matter

to praise, and

some say

they say it to denigrate.

Those who

say it to praise

think

that there was no person as worthy of the king as he was. Therefore, they made him king, despite the fact that he was not of royal lineage.

Therefore, they made him king even though he was not descended from the royal family.

And

those who

say it to denigrate

think

that

in truth

he was not fit for the kingship, and it was extra money that he gave

to the officers of the kingship and the prominent men of the nation—and

he arose

to the kingship.

“From India to Cush.”

They disagree about it,

Rav and Shmuel:

разошлись во мнениях:

One said: India is at the end of the world, and Cush is at the end of the world.

That is to say, he ruled over the entire world.

And one said: India and Cush—

they stood beside one another

[they were adjacent to one another]. And

just as he ruled over India and Cush—

so he ruled from one end of the world to the other.

Similarly you say

with regard to this verse that is written concerning Solomon: “And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms, etc.,

for he ruled over all the region beyond the river, from Tifsah to Gaza.”

For with regard to this as well,

Rav and Shmuel disagree:

разошлись во мнениях:

One said: Tifsah is at the end of the world, and Gaza is at the end of the world.

And one said: Tifsah and Gaza—

they stood beside one another. Just as he ruled over Tifsah and over Gaza, so he ruled over the entire world .

It is written:

“One hundred and twenty-seven provinces” .

Rav Hisda said: At first he ruled over seven, and ultimately he ruled over twenty, and ultimately he ruled over one hundred.

And we ask:

But from now,

this that is written:

“And the days of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven years”—

what will you expound from it?

And we answer:

Here it is different, for the verse is superfluous.

For

since it is already written

already:

“From India to Cush,”

that is to say, that he ruled over the entire world, if so, this that is written:

“One hundred and twenty-seven provinces”—

why do I need it?

Infer from it—

that

for an exposition

this verse comes.

The Sages taught: Three

kings

ruled over the entire world [under every dome of the firmament].

[under the entire vault of the sky].

And these are they: Ahab, Ahasuerus, and Nebuchadnezzar.

From where do we know that

Ahab

ruled over the entire world?

For it is written

that Obadiah said to Elijah the prophet:

“As the Lord your God lives, if there is a nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you

etc., and he made the kingdom and the nation swear that it would not find you.”

And if Ahab had not been

Ahab

ruling over them,

over all the kingdoms,

how could he make them swear?

Nebuchadnezzar

from where do we know?

For it is written: “And it shall be that the nation

etc.,

that does not place its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon

etc.” We see that they were all under his yoke.

Ahasuerus—

that which we said.

For he ruled from India to Cush.