Megillah 13a — the Talmud in English

And the family of Benjamin said: Mordecai comes from me,

for he was from the tribe of Benjamin.

Rava said: The Assembly of Israel said the opposite,

as a cry and not as praise.

See what a Judahite did to me, and what a Benjaminite repaid me.

What a Judahite did to me —

for David did not kill Shimei, from whom Mordecai was born, by whom

he was envied

Haman.

And what a Benjaminite repaid me —

for Saul did not kill Agag, from whom Haman was born, who causes distress

to them,

to Israel.

Rabbi Yohanan said: In truth —

Mordecai comes from Benjamin

Mordecai.

And why does Scripture call him a Judahite? Because he denied idolatry .

For anyone who denies idolatry —

is called a Judahite ,

as it is written: “Here are

they came

Judahite men, etc.,

“they do not serve your god,” for they did not worship idolatry .

Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi, when he would begin

to expound

the Book of Chronicles, would say this: All your words,

the words of the Book of Chronicles, which mentions many names — correspond to one person

they are

said.

And

although the book stated its words obscurely

we know how to expound them.

As it is written:

“And his Judahite wife bore Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah; and these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took.”

And there is room to wonder:

Why does Scripture call her

the verse

a Judahite woman,

when her name was Bithiah , as it is written at the end of the verse?

Rather,

because she denied idolatry —

she was called a Judahite.

As it is written: “And the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the river,” and Rabbi Yohanan said: She went down to bathe from the idols of her father’s house .

And there is also room to wonder about this verse: Could it be that Bithiah

bore

Jered [who is Moses, as below]?

But she raised him

[she brought him up]!?

Rather, this is to tell you that whoever raises an orphan boy or an orphan girl in his house —

Scripture ascribes it to him as though he had begotten him .

“Jered” —

this is Moses. And why was he called Jered?

Because

he brought down manna for Israel in his days .

And Scripture also calls him

“Gedor”

because of

his fencing in the breaches of Israel.

“Heber” —

because of

his joining Israel to their Father in Heaven.

“Soco” —

because he became for Israel like a sukka .

he became for Israel like a sukkah .

“Jekuthiel” —

because Israel hoped —

for the manna in his days .

“Zanoah” —

because he caused the sins of Israel to be abandoned .

And from the fact that in this verse the word “father” is written three times

“father

of Gedor,

father

of Soco,

father

of Zanoah,” we expound: He was

a father in Torah, a father in wisdom,

and

a father in prophecy.

It is written in that verse:

“And these are the sons of Bithiah, whom Mered took.”

And we wonder:

Could Mered be his name? But his name was Caleb,

for the verse speaks about Caleb!?

Rather,

the Holy One, blessed is He, said: Let Caleb, who rebelled against the counsel of the spies, come and marry the daughter of Pharaoh —

who rebelled against the idols of her father’s house.

It is written: “Whom Nebuchadnezzar exiled from Jerusalem

with the exile who was exiled, etc.”

Rava said:

Since it is not written, “who was with the exile that he exiled” , it implies that he was not like the rest of Israel, who were exiled against their will, but

that he went into exile of his own accord

and willingly. As Jeremiah did, who went into exile willingly with Israel, until the Holy One, blessed is He, told him to return.

It is written:

“And he was a guardian

of Hadassah

who was Esther, the daughter of his uncle, etc.”

And we wonder:

It calls her Hadassah, and it calls her Esther!?

It was taught: Rabbi Meir says:

In truth

Esther was her name. And why was she called Hadassah? Because of the righteous who were called myrtles.

And so it says

in Zechariah’s prophecy:

“And he was standing

among the myrtles” .

And these were the righteous

[see Radak there, chapter 1, verse 8].

Rabbi Judah says:

In truth

Hadassah was her name. And why was she called Esther? Because she concealed her words .

As it is said: “Esther did not reveal her people, etc.”

Rabbi Nehemiah says: Hadassah was her name. And why was she called Esther? Because the nations of the world called her by

the name Istahar

[the moon, for the translation of “moon” is sihara] . That is, she was beautiful like the moon .

Ben Azzai says: Esther was neither tall

she was

nor was she short —

but of average height —

like a myrtle.

Rabbi Joshua ben Korha said:

In truth

Esther was greenish

like a myrtle

she was,

and a thread of favor

was

drawn over her

from the Holy One, blessed is He , and therefore she appeared beautiful to the nations and to Ahasuerus.

It is written: “For she had neither father nor mother, and when her father and mother died

Mordecai took her for himself as a daughter.”

And we wonder: This “when her father and mother died”

why is it needed,

when the verse already said: “For she had neither father nor mother”!?

Rav Aḥa said:

The end of the verse comes to say that she did not have a father or mother even for one day. For when

her mother conceived her

her father

died. When she was born,

her mother died .

“And when her father and mother died, Mordecai took her for himself as a daughter.”

It was taught in the name of Rabbi Meir: Do not read “as a daughter” but “as a house” ,

that is, she was his wife .

And so it says

in the account of David and Bathsheba:

“But the poor man had nothing, except for one small ewe-lamb, which he had bought and kept alive. And it grew up with him and with his sons together; it ate of his bread, drank from his cup, and lay in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him.”

But is it

because she slept in his bosom -

she became like a daughter?! Rather -

because she was to him

like a wife,

for she was beloved to him like a wife.

So here too -

to a wife.

It is written: “And the maiden pleased him, etc., and he hastened her ointments and her portions to give them to her,

and the seven maidens, etc.”

Rava said: He counted through them,

among those seven maidens,

the days of the

the

Shabbat .

That is, she had a special maidservant for each day , and when the special maidservant for Shabbat arrived, she knew that it was Shabbat .

“And he changed her and her maidservants, etc.,” Rav said: He fed her Jewish food .

And Shmuel said: He fed her pig necks .

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Seeds

he fed her .

And so it says

concerning Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

“And the steward carried their assigned food

and gave them seeds” ,

and it is written in that matter: “And at the end of ten days their appearance seemed better and their flesh healthier”; we see that seeds are good food for the righteous.

It is written:

“Six months with oil of myrrh.”

What is “oil of myrrh”?

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said: satikhta [

perfumed oil] .

Rav Huna said: olive oil that has not reached one-third .

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yehuda says: anpikinon -

olive oil that has not reached one-third

it is.

And why do they anoint with it?

Because

it removes the hair and softens the flesh.

It is written:

“In the evening she came, and in the morning she returned.”

Rabbi Yohanan said: From the disgrace of that wicked man,

who had intercourse with all the women and then sent them away -

we learn his praise, that he did not have intercourse during the day .

“And Esther found favor” -

Rabbi Elazar said: This teaches that to each and every one -

she appeared to be of his nation,

and therefore she found favor in the eyes of everyone .

“And Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, to his royal house, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tevet” -

which is

the month in which the body takes pleasure from the body -

because of the cold, for Heaven had arranged that she should be beloved by Ahasuerus.

It is written:

“And the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness before him more than all the maidens.”

What is this that is written, “more than all the women” and “more than all the maidens”?

Rav said: He wished to taste the taste of a maiden -

taste ,

he wished to taste

the taste of a married woman -

he tasted.

“And the king made a great feast

etc.,” for the king carried out several things so that she would reveal to him her birthplace - but she did not reveal it

He made a drinking-feast -

but she did not reveal it to him.

He remitted the poll-tax,

for Ahasuerus said to the nations: For Esther’s sake I am setting aside your head-tax, as it is written: “And he granted remission to the provinces” -

but she did not reveal it to him.

He sent gifts,

for he sent gifts to the ministers in her name, and this is what is written: “And he gave a gift according to the hand of the king” -

but she did not reveal it to him .

And what is this that is written:

“And when the maidens were gathered a second time, etc.”?

Then

Ahasuerus went

and

took counsel from Mordecai ,

what he should do so that Esther would reveal to him her people and her birthplace.

He said

to him, Mordecai:

A woman becomes jealous -

only of the thigh of her fellow.

And he advised him to gather maidens again, so that she would become jealous of them and fear lest Ahasuerus take another in her place, and because of this she would reveal it to him .

And even so -

she did not reveal it to him. For it is written: “Esther did not reveal her birthplace, etc.”