Megillah 13a (יג.) — 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 Congregation of Israel said the opposite,

as a cry and not as praise:

“See what the Jew did to me, and what the Benjaminite repaid me.”

“What the Jew did to me”—

that David did not kill Shimei, from whom Mordecai was descended, and by whom

Haman was jealous

. “And what the Benjaminite repaid me”—

that Saul did not kill Agag, from whom Haman was descended, who tormented

that Saul did not kill Agag, from whom Haman descended, who caused distress to

them,

the Jewish people.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: In truth,

Mordecai comes from Benjamin

;

and why is he called a Jew? Because he rejected idolatry .

For anyone who rejects idolatry—

is called a Jew ,

as it is written: “There are

men who have come

from Judah, etc.,

who do not serve your god,” meaning that they did not worship idolatry.

When Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi would begin

to expound

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

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

are

said.

And

although the book left its words unexplained,

we know how to expound them.

It is written:

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

And there is reason to wonder:

Why does the verse call her

the woman

a Jewess,

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

Rather,

because she rejected idolatry—

she was called a Jewess.

For it is written: “And Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe in the Nile,” and Rabbi Yoḥanan said: She went down to bathe herself of the idols of her father’s household .

There is another difficulty with this verse: Did Bithiah

bear

Jered [who is Moses, as stated below]?

But she raised him

!

Rather, this comes to teach you that whoever raises an orphan, whether a boy or a girl, in his home—

the verse credits him as though he had begotten him .

“Jered”—

this is Moses. And why was he called Jered?

Because

the manna descended for Israel in his days .

And the verse also calls him

“Gedor”—

because of

his having fenced in the breaches of Israel.

“Heber”—

because

he joined Israel to their Father in Heaven.

“Sokho”—

because

he became for Israel like a sukkah .

“Jekuthiel”—

because Israel placed their hope in

God in his days .

“Zanoah”—

because he caused the sins of Israel to be neglected .

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

“father

of Gedor,”

“father

of Sokho,”

“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 were the sons of Bithiah, whom Mered took.”

And we ask:

Was his name Mered? Surely his name was Caleb,

for the verse is speaking about Caleb!?

Rather,

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

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

It is written: “Whom Nebuchadnezzar exiled from Jerusalem

with the exile whom he had exiled, etc.”

Rava said:

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

he went into exile of his own accord

and willingly. This was like Jeremiah, who went into exile willingly with Israel, until the Holy One, blessed be He, told him to return.

It is written:

“And he was guardian

of Hadassah

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

And we ask:

She is called Hadassah, and she is called Esther!?

It was taught: Rabbi Meir says:

In truth,

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

And so it says

in the prophecy of Zechariah:

“And he was standing

among the myrtles” .

And these were the righteous

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

Rabbi Judah says:

In truth,

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

as it is stated: “Esther did not reveal her people, etc.”

Ben Azzai says: Esther was neither tall

nor

short but of

Ben Azzai says: Esther was neither tall

nor

was she short -

average height —

like a myrtle.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said:

In truth,

Esther was greenish

like a myrtle

was ,

but a thread of grace

was

drawn over her

by the Holy One, blessed be He , so that 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 as his daughter.”

And we ask: Why is the phrase

“and when her father and mother died”

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

Rav Aḥa said:

The latter part of the verse comes to say that she never had a father or mother even for a single day. 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 as his daughter.”

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

meaning that she was his wife .

And so it says

in the account of David and Bathsheba:

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

And is it that

because she slept in his bosom—

she was like a daughter to him?! Rather—

she was to him

like a wife,

for she was as beloved to him as a wife.

Here too—

as a wife.

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

, and the seven maidens, etc.”

Rava said: He would count with them,

with those seven maidens,

the

days of

Shabbat .

That is to say, she had a designated maidservant for each day , and when the maidservant designated 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 the heads of boars .

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He fed her seeds

her .

And likewise it says

concerning Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

“And the steward would carry their food

and give them seeds” ,

and it is written in that passage: “And at the end of ten days, their appearance was better and they were fatter in flesh.” We see that seeds are good food for the righteous.

It is written:

“Six months with the oil of myrrh.”

What is the oil of myrrh?

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said: Satkhet

(perfumed oil) .

Rav Huna said: Olive oil that has not reached one-third of its growth .

It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yehuda says: Anafekinon—

it is olive oil that has not reached one-third of its growth

it.

And why is it applied?

Because

it removes the hair and softens the flesh.

It is written:

“In the evening she would come, and in the morning she would return.”

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

who would have relations with all the women and then send them away—we learn his praise,

that he did not engage in marital relations during the day .

“And Esther found favor”—

Rabbi Elazar said: This teaches that for each and every one—

she appeared to him as belonging to his own 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 benefits from the body

because of the cold, for Heaven arranged matters so as to make her 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 the meaning of that which is written, “more than all the women” and “more than all the maidens”?

Rav said: He sought to taste the taste of a virgin—

taste ,

he sought to taste

the taste of a woman who had had relations—

he tasted it.

“And the king made a great feast

etc.,” for the king arranged many things so that she would reveal her people and her birthplace to him—but she did not reveal them

He made a drinking feast—

but he did not reveal it to him.

He remitted the head tax,

for Ahasuerus said to the nations: On account of Esther, I am waiving your head tax, as it is written: “And he granted an exemption to the provinces ”—

but he did not reveal it to him.

He sent gifts,

sending gifts to the ministers in her name, as it is written: “And he gave gifts in accordance with the hand of the king”—

but he did not reveal it to him .

And what is the meaning of that which is written:

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

Then

Ahasuerus went

and

sought counsel from Mordecai ,

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

He said

to Mordecai:

A woman is jealous—

only of her companion’s thigh.

And he advised him to gather maidens again, so that she would be jealous of them and fear that Ahasuerus might take another in her place; for that reason she would reveal it to him .

And even so—

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