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? Rather, so said the Holy One blessed be He: Let Esther, the daughter of Sarah, who lived one hundred and twenty-seven years, come and rule over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Rabbi Levi said: Everywhere that it says field, it is a town [ir]; a town, a city [medina]; a city, a province. From where is a field a town? As it is stated: “Go to Anatot, to your fields” (I Kings 2:26); from where is a town [ir], a city? As it is stated: “Pass through the midst of the town [ir], through the midst of Jerusalem” (Ezekiel 9:4). A city [medina], a province, as it is stated: “One hundred and twenty-seven provinces [medina].”