Megillah 15b — the Talmud in English

for Rav Hisda said: This -

Mordecai -

came in a prosboli [the language of wealth], since Haman sold himself to Mordecai for loaves of bread many days earlier, as is brought in the midrash.

for Haman had sold himself to Mordecai in exchange for loaves of bread many days earlier, as it is brought in the Midrash .

And this -

Haman -

came ![](pamud.bmp "

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in a prosbuti [the language of poverty].

Rav Pappa said: And they called him

Haman:

a slave sold for loaves

[of bread].

“And all this is worth nothing to me.” This teaches that all the treasures of that wicked man were engraved

were

upon his heart.

And at the time

when

Haman

saw Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate, he said: “And all this is worth nothing to me”.

And Rabbi Elazar said that Rabbi Hanina said: In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will be a crown upon the head of every righteous person. As it is stated: “On that day the Lord of Hosts will be for a crown of glory, etc.”

And this is the continuation of the verse [Isaiah 28:5–7]: “... and for a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people, and for a spirit of judgment to him who sits in judgment, and for strength to those who return the battle to the gate; and these too have erred through wine and have gone astray through strong drink; priest and prophet have erred through strong drink, have been swallowed up by wine, have gone astray through strong drink, have erred in vision, have stumbled in judgment.”

What is: “for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty”?

For those who do His will

[His desire]

and who await His glory.

Could it be for everyone

who does His will, that he will be a crown, even though he acts arrogantly?

The verse states: “for the remnant of His people,” for one who makes

himself like the insignificant

who are not important; so too, he does not act arrogantly.

“And for a spirit of judgment” -

this is one who judges his inclination,

who judges his spirit.

“And for him who sits in judgment” -

this is one who judges a true judgment according to its truth.

“And for strength” -

this is one who overcomes his inclination.

“Those who return the battle” -

those who debate in the battle of Torah.

“To the gate” -

these are Torah scholars, who rise early and stay late in synagogues and houses of study.

And this is “to the gate”: they become like gatekeepers, opening the doors early and remaining there until the time of their closing.

The attribute of judgment said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe! What distinguishes these -

Israel -

from these -

the nations of the world, so that among Israel there are these qualities, but among the nations of the world there are not?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: Israel engaged in Torah,

whereas

the nations of the world did not engage in Torah.

The attribute of judgment said to Him

:

“These too have erred through wine and have gone astray through strong drink; they have stumbled in judgment”.

“Stumbling” -

is nothing other than Gehinnom, as it is stated: “And this shall not be a stumbling-block for you”

[as above, 14b].

And “judgment” -

is nothing other than

judges, as it is stated: “And he shall give it over to the judges.”

It is written:

“And she stood in the inner courtyard of the king’s house.” Rabbi Levi said: Once she reached the house of the idols,

the Divine Presence departed from her.

Esther said

Esther:

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”

Perhaps You judge an inadvertent act -

as an intentional act,

and coercion

[for even though I come to him of my own accord, it is coercion] -

as willful action?!

Or perhaps because I called him

Ahasuerus

a dog,

as it is stated: “Deliver my soul from the sword, my only one from the hand of the dog,”

and I did not show honor to the monarchy?

Esther returned

Esther,

and called him

Ahasuerus

a lion. As it is stated: “Save me from the mouth of the lion.”

It is written:

“And it came to pass, when the king saw Esther the queen

that she found favor in his eyes.”

Rabbi Yohanan said: Three ministering angels happened to be present for her

for Esther

at that time. One -

who raised her neck, and one -

who drew a thread of favor over her, and one -

who extended the scepter.

And how far

was the scepter extended?

Rabbi Yirmeya said: It was originally two cubits

the scepter, and the angel

set it at twelve

cubits.

And some say: He set it at sixteen

cubits.

And some say: At twenty-four

cubits.

In a metanita it was taught: He set it at sixty

cubits.

And likewise you find this with the maidservant of Pharaoh’s daughter.

For it is written: “And she sent her maidservant and took it,” and we expound that her hand was stretched many cubits, so that she could take the basket from the Nile.

And likewise you find this with the teeth of the wicked. For it is written: “You have broken the teeth of the wicked,” and Reish Lakish said: Do not read “you have broken” -

but rather “you have stretched.”

For this is what happened with Og, king of Bashan: he uprooted a mountain three parsaot in size to throw it upon Israel, and placed it upon his head. The Holy One, blessed be He, sent ants, and they bored through it. Og sought to shake it off his neck, but his teeth stretched out in both directions, and he could not shake it off.

And since the verse could have written “the tooth of the wicked,” but it wrote “the teeth of the wicked,” we expound that his teeth stretched sixty cubits. For the yod of “teeth,” and the yod and mem of “wicked,” have a numerical value of sixty.

Rabbah bar Ofran said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer, who heard it from his teacher, and his teacher from his teacher:

to

two hundred

cubits the angel set the scepter.

It is written:

“And the king said to Esther the queen: What is your request? Even to half the kingdom, and it shall be given you.”

And this is how we expound the verse: Until

half the kingdom -

but not the entire kingdom,

and not something that separates

the kingdom. And what is it? -

the building of the Temple, ,

which is at the center of the world. That is, they began building the Temple in the days of Cyrus, but Cyrus changed his mind and commanded that the work be stopped. And Ahasuerus, who came after him, also stopped the work and did not permit it to be built.

It is written:

“Let the king and Haman come to the banquet.”

The Sages taught: What did Esther see, that she invited Haman

to the banquet?

Rabbi Eliezer says: She set traps for him. As it is stated: “Let their table before them become a trap.”

Rabbi Joshua says: She learned it from her father’s house.

As it is stated: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him bread, etc.” .

Rabbi Meir says: So that Haman would not take

Haman

counsel -

and rebel. .

Rabbi Judah says: So that they would not recognize in her that she was Jewish.

Rabbi Nehemiah says: So that Israel would not say: We have a sister in the king’s house, and they would divert

from this

their attention from seeking mercy.

Therefore she invited Haman, so that they would suspect that she loved and drew near the enemies of Israel, and they would increase their requests for mercy.

Rabbi Yose says: So that Haman would be

available

to her at all times,

and perhaps she would be able to cause him to stumble before the king.

Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya says: Perhaps the Omnipresent will perceive

that I too am drawing near the enemies of Israel Alternatively, that I need to flatter this wicked man and belittle my own honor. Rashi

and He will perform a miracle for us.

Rabbi Joshua ben Korha says:

Esther said,

I will explain to him

to Haman

the matter,

so that the king would suspect us, and

he and she would be killed .

Rabban Gamaliel says:

Ahasuerus

was a fickle king,

and he went back on his word. Esther said: Perhaps I will persuade him to kill Haman—and he will consent. And if Haman is not ready before us, the moment will pass and he will change his mind.

Rabban Gamaliel said: We still need the

words of Rabbi Eliezer the

Modai .

For it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Eliezer the Modai says: His jealousy of the king, his jealousy of the ministers.

That is, she aroused the jealousy of the king and the ministers against him, for they were jealous of him because she had invited only him.

Rabba said:

This that she invited Haman to the feast is as it is written:

“Before destruction -

haughtiness” .

Abaye and Rava both say:

It is like this verse that is written concerning Belshazzar and his company, who returned from the war, sat down to drink, and became drunk, and on that day Belshazzar was killed:

“In their heating I will prepare their feasts, and so forth.”

Here too, she invited Haman to the feast, for from the feasting of the wicked calamity came upon them.

Rabba bar Avuha encountered Elijah. He said to him: In accordance with whom did Esther see fit to act in this way,

that she invited Haman?

He said to him: In accordance with all the tannaim and all the amoraim

above.

It is written:

“And Haman recounted to them the glory of his wealth and the multitude of his sons.”

And how great was the multitude of his sons?

Rav said: Thirty

there were.

Ten

of them

died [

who were killed. As it is written: “And the ten sons of Haman they killed”],

and ten -

were hanged ,

and ten -

went around knocking on doors.

And the Rabbis say: Those who went around knocking on doors -

there were seventy. For it is written: “Seventy were hired for bread”; do not read “sevaim”

the expression of being satiated

- but “shivim” .

And Rami bar Abba said: All of them numbered two hundred and eight. For it is stated: “And the multitude of his sons.”

And we object: But

“rov” -

by gematria there were two hundred and fourteen?!

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said: “Rav” is written defectively, without a vav.

“On that night the king’s sleep was disturbed.” Rabbi Tanhum said: The sleep of the King of the universe was disturbed

in order to take vengeance for His vengeance.

And the Rabbis say: The upper beings were disturbed,

for angels were frightening him the entire night, saying to him: Ungrateful one! Repay the good to the one who did it for you! And through this -

the lower beings were disturbed,

that is, the king.

Rava said:

The

sleep of King Ahasuerus himself was disturbed.

For

a matter fell into his mind; he said: What

is this

that is before us, that Esther invited Haman? Perhaps they are taking counsel concerning that man

He said this concerning himself

to kill him!?

He then said: If so,

was there

no man who loved me

who loved me

who would have informed me?!

He then said: Perhaps there is someone who did me a kindness, and I did not repay him. For that reason people are refraining -

and are not informing me.

Immediately, “And he said to bring the book of the records, the chronicles ,

and let them be read

before the king.”

As it is written: “And they were read” -

this teaches that

they were

read on their own .

It is written:

“And there was found

written.”

But “and there was found

a writing was required for him to write

for “a writing” implies that it had been written from the outset, whereas “written”

implies that it was written anew now?!