136 passagesc. 6th century CEHebrew / AramaicCC-BY
Individual passages from Esther Rabbah, shown in source order. Page 1 of 3.
The Book of Esther opens with a single verse that the rabbis of Esther Rabbah read as a cry of anguish: "It was during the days of Ahasuerus" (Esther 1:1). But to understand why th...
“It was during the days of Aḥashverosh; that [hu] Aḥashverosh; that [hu] Aḥashverosh who reigned from India to Kush, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces” (Esther 1:1).1What foll...
“It was during the days of Aḥashverosh; that [hu] Aḥashverosh who reigned from India to Kush, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces” (Esther 1:1). Hu [appears] five [times] for ev...
“It was during the days of Aḥashverosh…” Rabbi Levi and the Rabbis, Rabbi Levi said: Aḥashverosh is Artaḥshasta. The Rabbis say: [He was called] Aḥashverosh, since anyone who remem...
“It was during the days of Aḥashverosh; that [hu] Aḥashverosh who reigned from India to Kush, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces.” “Who reigned” – but had not yet reigned.5This...
“…who reigned from India to Kush, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces.” Rabbi Eliezer in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: Are there not two hundred and fifty-two provinces in the world...
Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: It is written: “The hair of His head like pure wool” (Daniel 7:9); that He has no debt to any creature. Rabbi Yudan in the n...
Another matter: “One hundred and twenty-seven provinces” – Rabbi Yuda and Rabbi Neḥemya: Rabbi Yuda said: He conquered seven that were as difficult as twenty; he conquered twenty t...
Rabbi Akiva was sitting and lecturing and his students [began] dozing. He sought to rouse them; he said: Why did Esther merit to rule over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces? R...
“In those days, when King Aḥashverosh was sitting on his royal throne that was in the Shushan citadel” (Esther 1:2). This is one of the places15The reference to “places” is unclear...
Esther Rabbah opens its comment on the Megillah with a close reading of a single Hebrew word in the verse, "In those days, when King Ahashverosh was sitting on the throne of his ki...
“On his royal throne” – Rabbi Kohen (a priest) in the name of Rabbi Azarya: “On his royal throne [kisse malkhuto (Sovereignty)],” malkhuto is written [without the vav]. He sought t...
Esther Rabbah, the classical midrashic commentary on the Scroll of Esther, opens by wrestling with a theological tension hidden inside the book's first verse. The Megillah describe...
This teaching from Esther Rabbah reads a small geographic phrase in the book of Esther as a sign of divine favor toward a Persian king. The verse notes that the events took place "...
“In the third year of his reign, he made a banquet for all his princes and his servants, the elite of Persia and Media, the nobles and governors of the provinces before him” (Esthe...
Esther Rabbah opens its treatment of the opening feast in the Scroll of Esther, "He made a banquet for all his princes and his servants" (Esther 1:3), with an exchange between two ...
“The elite of Persia and Media:” It is taught in the name of Rabbi Natan about these ten measures: There are ten portions of licentiousness in the world, nine in Alexandria and one...
Another matter: “The elite of Persia and Media” – sometimes Media precedes Persia and sometimes Persia precedes Media. When the throne is in Media, Persia is secondary to it; when ...
The nobles – Rabbi Elazar said: The nobles are the king’s two legions, as the king is not called Augustus (i.e. emperor) until they call him that first, and these are they. Rabbi Y...
This midrash from Esther Rabbah dwells on a single phrase from the opening of the Scroll of Esther, which describes the assembled officials of the empire as "the governors of the p...
A single verse from Deuteronomy captured the entire emotional arc of Jewish exile. "In the morning you will say: Would that it were evening, and in the evening you will say: Would ...
The fool vents all his spirit, and the wise will soothe it, restraining it” (Proverbs 29:11). “The fool vents all his spirit” – this is Aḥashverosh; “and the wise will soothe it, k...
“Many days” – days of suffering, and similarly: “It was during those many days…the children of Israel sighed due to the work, and they cried out, and their plea rose to God from th...
“One hundred and eighty days” – the last day was like the first day. There was an incident involving a certain man whose name was Barbohin. Our Sages went to him regarding matters ...
Rabbi Ḥiyya had a gentile friend in Ashna, who prepared a feast for him, during which he served him everything that had been created in the six days of Creation. He said to him: ‘W...
“Upon the completion of [uvimlot] those days” – it is written uvimlot [plene, with the extra vav],8It is not clear if this is merely a textual note or somehow related to the follow...
“In the courtyard of the garden of the king's palace” – Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya: Rabbi Yehuda said: The garden was on the outside and the courtyard on the inside. Rabbi Neḥe...
“Hangings of white [ḥur], green [karpas] and blue [tekhelet], fastened with cords of fine linen and purple wool on silver rods and marble pillars, couches of gold and silver, on a ...
The midrash dwells on a single detail from the description of King Ahasuerus's lavish feast, the "couches of gold and silver" on which the guests reclined (Esther 1:6). Two sages o...
The verse describing Ahasuerus's banquet lingers over the pavement: "On a floor of alabaster, marble, mother-of-pearl, and onyx" (Esther 1:6). The sages of Esther Rabbah refuse to ...
“Drink was served in vessels of gold and vessels of diverse kinds, and abundant royal wine, in keeping with the king’s bounty” (Esther 1:7).“Drink was served in vessels of gold” – ...
“And vessels of diverse kinds” – he brought his vessels and vessels of Elam, and his were more beautiful than those from Elam. He brought his vessels and the Temple vessels, and th...
This teaching from Esther Rabbah, the midrashic commentary on the Scroll of Esther, examines the description of the great feast that King Ahasuerus held in his palace, where Script...
“The drinking was as customary, without coercion, for so did the king establish with all the stewards of his house, to do as every man desired.” (Esther 1:8). “The drinking was as ...
“To do as every man desired.” The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘I do not fulfill the wishes of all My creatures, and you seek “to do as every man desired?”’ The way of the world is...
God told Israel three separate times: do not go back to Egypt. According to Esther Rabbah, they violated every single warning and paid for every single one. Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai ...
Rav began: “Woe! He gives drink to his neighbor, amplifies your wrath, and intoxicates him, so that you may look upon their nakedness” (Habakkuk 2:15). “Woe! He gives drink” – that...
“Also, Vashti the queen made a women’s banquet in the royal palace of King Aḥashverosh” (Esther 1:9). Rabbi Yehuda son of Rabbi Simon began: “My people, its oppressors are babes an...
Another interpretation of "Also, Vashti the queen made a banquet" (Esther 1:9). Esther Rabbah, the classical midrash on the Scroll of Esther, opens this reading with a verse the sa...
Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “But you did not call Me, Jacob, for you wearied of Me, Israel” (Isaiah 43:22). Rabbi Yoḥanan understood it [the verse in (Isaiah 43:22)] from this, as it is w...
It is written: “You have seen, for You behold mischief and spite; to requite is in Your hand: the helpless man commits himself to You; You are the helper of the orphans” (Psalms 10...
It is written: “From people by Your hand, O Lord, from people from the world [meḥeled ], their portion is in life; Your hidden treasures will fill their bellies; their sons will be...
Another interpretation: “From people [mimtim] by Your hand” – who are these courageous men who took theirs from under the hand of God? And who was that? That was the generation of ...
Another interpretation: “From people by Your hand, O Lord” – how mighty are they who took dominion from under the hand of God. Who is that? That is Nebuchadnezzar. “From people fro...
Another interpretation: “Also, Vashti the queen made a women’s banquet.” Why did Scripture see fit to publicize the banquet of Vashti? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said: Why to that ex...
“[Also [gam], Vashti the queen] made a women’s banquet,” she fed them kinds of soup [gema’in]. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: She fed them kinds of sweets. “In the royal palace” – she situate...
“On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he said to Mehuman, Bizzeta, Ḥarvona, Bigta, and Avagta, Zetar, and Kharkas, the seven officials who attended King Aḥashvero...
“He said to Mehuman, Bizzeta, Ḥarvona” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At that moment, the Holy One blessed be He called the angel who is appointed over fury16A reference to the verse: “Quee...
