THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME IV BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS

B >> BY LOUIS GINZBERG >> THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME IV BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS

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Thereupon Ahasuerus put his charge against Vashti before the
seven princes of Persia, Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish,
Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, who came from Africa, India,
Edom, Tarsus, Mursa, Resen, and Jerusalem, respectively. (39)
The names of these seven officials, each representing his country,
were indicative of their office. Carshena had the care of the
animals, Shethar of the wine, Admatha of the land, Tarshish of the
palace, Meres of the poultry, Marsena of the bakery, and Memucan
provided for the needs of all in the palace, his wife acting as
housekeeper. (40)

This Memucan, a native of Jerusalem, was none other than Daniel,
called Memucan, "the appointed one," because he was designated
by God to perform miracles and bring about the death of Vashti.
(41)

When the king applied for advice to these seven nobles, Memucan
was the first to speak up, though in rank he was inferior to the
other six, as appears from the place his name occupies in the list.
However, it is customary, as well among Persians as among Jews,
in passing death sentence, to begin taking the vote with the
youngest of the judges on the bench, to prevent the juniors and the
less prominent from being overawed by the opinion of the more
influential. (42)

It was Memucan's advice to the king to make an example of
Vashti, so that in future no woman should dare refuse obedience to
her husband. Daniel-Memucan had had unpleasant experiences in
his conjugal life. He had married a wealthy Persian lady, who
insisted upon speaking to him in her own language exclusively.
(43) Besides, personal antipathy existed between Daniel and
Vashti. He had in a measure been the cause of her refusal to
appear before the king and his princes. Vashti hated Daniel,
because it was he who had prophesied his death to her father, and
the extinction of his dynasty. She could not endure his sight,
wherefore she would not show herself to the court in his presence.
(44) Also, it was Daniel who, by pronouncing the Name of God,
had caused the beauty of Vashti to vanish, and her face to be
marred. (45) In consequence of all this, Daniel advised, not only
that Vashti should be cast off, but that she should be made
harmless forever by the hangman's hand. His advice was endorsed
by his colleagues, and approved by the king. That the king might
not delay execution of the death sentence, and Daniel himself thus
incur danger to his own life, he made Ahasuerus swear the most
solemn oath known to the Persians, that it would be carried out
forthwith. At the same time a royal edict was promulgated, making
it the duty of wives to obey their husbands. With special reference
to Daniel's domestic difficulties, it was specified that the wife
must speak the language of her lord and master. (46)

The execution of Vashti brought most disastrous consequences in
its train. His whole empire, which is tantamount to saying the
whole world, rose against Ahasuerus. The widespread rebellion
was put down only after his marriage with Esther, but not before it
had inflicted upon him the loss of one hundred and twenty-seven
provinces, the half of his kingdom. Such was his punishment for
refusing permission to rebuild the Temple. It was only after the fall
of Haman, when Mordecai had been made the chancellor of the
empire, that Ahasuerus succeeded in reducing the revolted
provinces to submission. (47)

The death of Vashti was not undeserved punishment, for it had
been she who had prevented the king from giving his consent to
the rebuilding of the Temple. "Wilt thou rebuild the Temple," said
she, reproachfully, "which my ancestors destroyed?" (48)

THE FOLLIES OF AHASUERUS

Ahasuerus is the prototype of the unstable, foolish ruler. He
sacrificed his wife Vashti to his friend Haman-Memucan, and later
on again his friend Haman to his wife Esther. (49) Folly possessed
him, too, when he arranged extravagant festivities for guests from
afar, before he had won, by means of kindly treatment, the
friendship of his surroundings, of the inhabitants of his capital.
(50) Ridiculous is the word that describes his edict bidding wives
obey their husbands. Every one who read it exclaimed: "To be
sure, a man is master in his own house!" However, the silly decree
served its purpose. It revealed his true character to the subjects of
Ahasuerus, and thenceforward they attached little importance to
his edicts. This was the reason why the decree of annihilation
directed against the Jews failed of the effect expected by Haman
and Ahasuerus. The people regarded it as but another of the king's
foolish pranks, and therefore were ready to acquiesce in the
revocation of the edict when it came. (51)

The king's true character appeared when he grew sober after the
episode with Vashti. Learning that he had had her executed, he
burst out furiously against his seven counsellors, and in turn
ordered them to death. (52)

Foolish, too, is the only word to describe the manner in which he
set about discovering the most beautiful woman in his dominion.
King David on a similar occasion wisely sent out messengers who
were to bring to him the most beautiful maiden in the land, and
there was none who was not eager to enjoy the honor of giving a
daughter of his to the king. Ahasuerus's method was to have his
servants gather together a multitude of beautiful maidens and
women from all parts, and among them he proposed to make
choice. The result of this system was that the women concealed
themselves to avoid being taken into the harem of the king, when
it was not certain that they would be found worthy of becoming his
queen. (53)

With his stupidity Ahasuerus combined wantonness. He ordered
force to be used in taking the maidens from their parents and the
wives from their husbands, and then he confined them in his
harem. (54) On the other hand, the moral sense of the heathen was
so degraded that many maidens displayed their charms to public
view, so that they might be sure to attract the admiring attention of
the royal emissaries.

As for Esther, for four years Mordecai kept her concealed in a
chamber, so that the king's scouts could not discover her. But her
beauty had long been known to fame, and when they returned to
Shushan, they had to confess to the king, that the most superbly
beautiful woman in the land eluded their search. Thereupon
Ahasuerus issued a decree ordaining the death penalty for the
woman who should secrete herself before his emissaries. There
was nothing left for Mordecai to do but fetch Esther from her
hiding-place, and immediately she was espied and carried to the
palace of the king. (55)

MORDECAI

The descent of Mordecai and of his niece Esther is disposed of in a
few words in the Scripture. But he could trace it all the way back
to the Patriarch Jacob, from whom he was forty-five degrees
removed. (56) Beside the father of Mordecai, the only ancestor of
his who is mentioned by name is Shimei, and he is mentioned for a
specific reason. This Shimei is none other then the notorious son
of Gera, the rebel who had so scoffed and mocked at David fleeing
before Absalom that he would have been killed by Abishai, if
David had not generously interfered in his favor. David's prophetic
eye discerned in Shimei the ancestor of Israel's savior in the time
of Ahasuerus. For this reason he dealt leniently with him, and on
his death-bed he bade his son Solomon reserve vengeance until
Shimei should have reached old age and could beget no more
children. Thus Mordecai deserves both appellations, the Benjamite
and the Judean, for he owed his existence not only to his actual
Benjamite forebears on his father's side, but also to the Judean
David, who kept his ancestor Shimei alive. (57)

Shimei's distinction as the ancestor of Israel's redeemer was due to
the merits of his wife. When Jonathan and Ahimaaz, David's spies
in his war against his son, fled before the myrmidons of Absalom,
they found the gate of Shimei's house open. Entering, they
concealed themselves in the well. That they escaped detection was
due to the ruse of Shimei's pious wife. She quickly transformed the
well into a lady's chamber. When Absalom's men came and looked
about, they desisted from searching the place, because they
reasoned, that men as saintly as Jonathan and Ahimaaz would not
have taken refuge in the private apartment of a woman. God
determined, that for having rescued two pious men He would
reward her with two pious descendants, who should in turn avert
the ruin of Israel. (58)

On his mother's side, Mordecai was, in very deed, a member of the
tribe of Judah. (59) In any event, he was a son of Judah in the true
sense of the word; he publicly acknowledged himself a Jew, and
he refused to touch of the forbidden food which Ahasuerus set
before his guest at his banquet. (60)

His other appellatives likewise point to his piety and his
excellencies. His name Mordecai, for instance, consists of Mor,
meaning "myrrh," and Decai, "pure," for he was as refined and
noble as pure myrrh. Again, he is called Ben Jair, because he
"illumined the eyes of Israel"; and Ben Kish, because when he
knocked at the gates of the Divine mercy, they were opened unto
him, which is likewise the origin of his name Ben Shimei, for he
was heard by God when he offered up prayer. (61) Still another of
Mordecai's epithets was Bilshan, "master of languages." Being a
member of the great Sanhedrin he understood all the seventy
languages spoken in the world. (62) More than that, he knew the
language of the deaf mutes. It once happened that no new grain
could be obtained at Passover time. A deaf mute came and pointed
with one hand to the roof and with the other to the cottage.
Mordecai understood that these signs meant a locality by the name
of Gagot-Zerifim, Cottage-Roofs, and, lo, new grain was found
there for the 'Omer offering. On another occasion a deaf mute
pointed with one hand to his eye and with the other to the staple of
the bolt on the door. Mordecai understood that he meant a place
called En-Soker, "dry well," for eye and spring are the same word,
En, in Aramaic, and Sikra also has a double meaning, staple and
exhaustion. (63)

Mordecai belonged to the highest aristocracy of Jerusalem, he
was of royal blood, and he was deported to Babylonian together
with King Jeconiah, by Nebuchadnezzar, who at that time exiled
only the great of the land. (64) Later he returned to Palestine, but
remained only for a time. He preferred to live in the Diaspora, and
watch over the education of Esther. When Cyrus and Darius
captured Babylon, Mordecai, Daniel, and the Jewish community of
the conquered city accompanied King Cyrus to Shushan, where
Mordecai established his academy. (65)

ESTHER'S BEAUTY AND PIETY

The birth of Esther caused the death of her mother. Her father had
died a little while before, so she was entirely orphaned. Mordecai
and his wife interested themselves in the poor babe. His wife
became her nurse, and he himself did not hesitate, when there was
need for it, to do services for the child that are usually performed
only by women. (66)

Both her names, Esther as well as Hadassah, are descriptive of her
virtues. Hadassah, or Myrtle, she is called, because her good deeds
spread her fame abroad, as the sweet fragrance of the myrtle
pervades the air in which it grows. In general, the myrtle is
symbolic of the pious, because, as the myrtle is ever green,
summer and winter alike, so the saints never suffer dishonor,
either in this world or in the world to come. In another way Esther
resembled the myrtle, which, in spite of its pleasant scent, has a
bitter taste. Esther was pleasant to the Jews, but bitterness itself to
Haman and all who belonged to him.

The name Esther is equally significant. In Hebrew it means "she
who conceals," a fitting name for the niece of Mordecai, the
woman who well knew how to guard a secret, and long hid her
descent and faith from the king and the court. She herself had been
kept concealed for years in the house of her uncle, withdrawn from
the searching eyes of the king's spies. Above all she was the hidden
light that suddenly shone upon Israel in his rayless darkness.

In build, Esther was neither tall nor short, she was exactly of
average height, another reason for calling her Myrtle, a plant
which likewise is neither large nor small. In point of fact, Esther
was not a beauty in the real sense of the word. The beholder was
bewitched by her grace and her charm, and that in spite of her
somewhat sallow, myrtle-like complexion. (67) More than this, her
enchanting grace was not the grace of youth, for she was
seventy-five years old when she came to court, and captivated the
hearts of all who saw her, from king to eunuch. This was in
fulfilment of the prophecy which God made to Abraham when he
was leaving the home of his father: "Thou art leaving the house of
thy father at the age of seventy-five. As thou livest, the deliverer of
thy children in Media also shall be seventy-five years old."

Another historical event pointed forward to Esther's achievement.
When the Jews, after the destruction of Jerusalem, broke out into
the wail, "We are orphans and fatherless," God said: "in very sooth,
the redeemer whom I shall send unto you in Media shall also be an
orphan fatherless and motherless." (68)

Ahasuerus put Esther between two groups of beauties, Median
beauties to right of her, and Persian beauties to left of her. Yet
Esther's comeliness outshone them all. (69) Not even Joseph could
vie with the Jewish queen in grace. Grace was suspended above
him, but Esther was fairly laden down with it. (70) Whoever saw
her, pronounced her the ideal of beauty of his nation. The general
exclamation was: "This one is worthy of being queen." (71) In vain
Ahasuerus had sought a wife for four years, in vain fathers had
spent time and money bringing their daughters to him, in the hope
that one or the other would appeal to his fancy. None among the
maidens, none among the women, pleased Ahasuerus. But scarcely
had he set eyes upon Esther when he thrilled with the feeling, that
he had at last found what he had long yearned for. (72)

All these years the portrait of Vashti had hung in his chamber. He
had not forgotten his rejected queen. But once he beheld Esther,
Vashti's picture was replaced by hers. (73) Maiden grace and
womanly charm were in her united. (74)

The change in her worldly position wrought no change in Esther's
ways and manners. As she retained her beauty until old age, so the
queen remained as pure in mind and soul as ever the simple
maiden had been. All the other women who entered the gates of
the royal palace made exaggerated demands, Esther's demeanor
continued modest and unassuming. The others insisted that the
seven girl pages assigned to them should have certain peculiar
qualities, as, that they should not differ, each from her mistress, in
complexion and height. Esther uttered no wish whatsoever.

But her unpretending ways were far from pleasing to Hegai, chief
of the eunuchs of the harem. He feared lest the king discover that
Esther did nothing to preserve her beauty, and would put the blame
for it upon him, an accusation that might bring him to the gallows.
To avoid such a fate, he loaded Esther down with resplendent
jewels, distinguishing her beyond all the other women gathered in
the palace, as Joseph, by means of costly gifts lavished upon him,
had singled out her ancestor Benjamin from among his brethren.

Hegai paid particular attention to what Esther ate. For her he
brought dishes from the royal table, which, however, she refused
obstinately to ouch. Only such things passed her lips as were
permitted to Jews. She lived entirely on vegetable food, as
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah had aforetimes done at the court
of Nebuchadnezzar. (75) The forbidden tidbits she passed over to
the non-Jewish servants. (76) Her personal attendants were seven
Jewish maidens as consistently pious as herself, whose devotion to
the ritual law Esther could depend upon.

Otherwise Esther was cut off from all intercourse with Jews, and
she was in danger of forgetting when the Sabbath bath came
around. She therefore adopted the device of giving her seven
attendants peculiar names, to keep her in mind of the passage of
time. The first one was called Hulta, "Workaday," and she was in
attendance upon Esther on Sundays. On Mondays, she was served
by Rok`ita, to remind her of Rek`ia, "the Firmament," which was
created on the second day of the world. Tuesday's maid was called
Genunita, "Garden," the third day of creation having produced the
world of plants. On Wednesday, she was reminded by Nehorita's
name, "the Luminous," that it was the day on which God had made
the great luminaries, to shed their light in the sky; on Thursday by
Ruhshita, "Movement," for on the fifth day the first animated
beings were created; on Friday, the day on which the beasts came
into being, by Hurfita, "little Ewelamb"; and on the Sabbath her
bidding was done by Rego`ita, "Rest." Thus she was sure to
remember the Sabbath day week after week. (77)

Mordecai's daily visits to the gate of the palace had a similar
purpose. Thus Esther was afforded the opportunity of obtaining
instruction from him on all ritual doubts that might assail her. (78)
This lively interest displayed by Mordecai in Esther's physical and
spiritual welfare is not wholly attributable to an uncle's and
guardian's solicitude in behalf of an orphaned niece. A much
closer bond, the bond between husband and wife, united them, for
when Esther had grown to maidenhood, Mordecai had espoused
her. (79) Naturally, Esther would have been ready to defend her
conjugal honor with her life. She would gladly have suffered death
at the hands of the king's bailiffs rather than yield herself to a man
not her husband. Luckily, there was no need for this sacrifice, for
her marriage with Ahasuerus was but a feigned union. God has
sent down a female spirit in the guise of Esther to take her place
with the king. Esther herself never lived with Ahasuerus as his
wife. (80)

At the advice of her uncle, Esther kept her descent and her faith a
secret. Mordecai's injunction was dictated by several motives. First
of all it was his modesty that suggested secrecy. He thought the
king, if he heard from Esther that she had been raised by him,
might offer to install him in some high office. In point of fact,
Mordecai was right in his conjecture; Ahasuerus had pledged
himself to make lords, princes, and kings of Esther's friends and
kinspeople, if she would but name them.

Another reason for keeping Esther's Jewish affiliations a secret
was Mordecai's apprehension, that the fate of Vashti overtake
Esther, too. If such were in store for her, he desired at least to
guard against the Jews' becoming her fellowsuffers. Besides,
Mordecai knew only too well the inimical feelings entertained by
the heathen toward the Jews, ever since their exile from the Holy
Land, and he feared that the Jew-haters, to gratify their hostility
against the Jews, might bring about the ruin of Esther and her
house. (81)

Mindful of the perils to which Esther was exposed, Mordecai
allowed no day to pass without assuring himself of her well-being.
His compensation therefore came from God: "Thou makest the
well-being of a single soul they intimate concern. As thou livest,
the well-being and good of thy whole nation Israel shall be
entrusted to thee as thy task." (82) And to reward him for his
modesty, God said: "Thou withdrawest thyself from greatness; as
thou livest, I will honor thee more than all men on earth." (83)

Vain were the efforts made by Ahasuerus to draw her secret from
Esther. He arranged great festivities for the purpose, but she
guarded it well. She had an answer ready for his most insistent
questions: "I know neither my people nor my family, for I lost my
parents in my earliest infancy." But as the king desired greatly to
show himself gracious to the nation to which the queen belonged,
he released all the peoples under his dominion from the payment
of taxes and imposts. In this way, he thought, her nation was bound
to be benefited. (84)

When the king saw that kindness and generosity left her
untouched, he sought to wrest the secret from her by threats. Once
when she parried his inquiries in the customary way, saying, "I am
an orphan, and God, the Father of the fatherless, in His mercy, has
brought me up," he retorted: I shall gather virgins together the
second time." His purpose was to provoke the jealousy of Esther,
"for a woman is jealous of nothing so much as a rival."

When Mordecai noticed that women were being brought to court
anew, he was overcome with anxiety for his niece. Thinking that
the fate of Vashti might have befallen her, he was impelled to
make inquires about her. (85)

As for Esther herself, she was but following the example of her
race. She could keep silent in all modesty, as Rachel, the mother of
Benjamin, had kept a modest silence when her father gave her
sister Leah to Jacob for wife instead of herself, and as Saul the
Benjamite was modestly reserved when, questioned by his uncle,
he told about the finding of his she-asses, but nothing about his
elevation to the kingship. Rachel and Saul were recompensed for
their self-abnegation by being given a descendant like Esther. (86)

THE CONSPIRACY

Once the following conversation took place between Ahasuerus
and Esther. The king asked Esther: "Whose daughter art thou?"

Esther: "And whose son art thou?"

Ahasuerus: "I am a king, and the son of a king."

Esther: "And I am a queen, the daughter of kings, a descendant of
the royal family of Saul. If thou art, indeed, a real prince, how
couldst thou put Vashti to death?"

Ahasuerus: "It was not to gratify my own wish, but at the advice of
the great princes of Persia and Media."

Esther: "Thy predecessors took no advice from ordinary
intelligences; they were guided by prophetical counsel. Arioch
brought Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and
Belshazzar, too, summoned Daniel before him."

Ahasuerus: "Is there aught left of those toothsome morsels? Are
there still prophets abroad?

Esther: "Seek and thou wilt find." (87)

The result was that Mordecai was given the position at court once
occupied by the chamberlains Bigthan and Teresh. Indignant that a
place once filled by senators should be given to a barbarian, the
ousted officials resolved to be revenged upon the king and take his
life. Their purpose was to administer poison, which seemed easy
of accomplishment, as they were the royal butlers, and could find
many occasions to drop poison into a cup of water before handing
it to the king. The plan successfully carried out would have
satisfied their vengeful feelings, not only as to the king, but as to
Mordecai as well. It would have made it appear that the death of
Ahasuerus was attributable to the circumstance, that he had
entrusted his person to the care of the Jew, as his life had been
secure under Bigthan and Teresh. They discussed their plans in the
presence of Mordecai, acting upon the unwarranted assumption,
that he would not understand the language they spoke, the Tarsian,
their native tongue. They were ignorant of the fact, that Mordecai
was a member of the Sanhedrin, and as such knew all the seventy
languages of the world. Thus their own tongue betrayed them to
ruin.

However, Mordecai had no need to make use of his great
knowledge of languages; he obtained his information about the
plot of the two chamberlains through prophetical channels.
Accordingly, he appeared one night in the palace. By a miracle the
guards at the gates had not seen him, and he could enter
unrestrained. Thus he overheard the conversation between the two
conspirators.

Mordecai had more than a single reason for preventing the death
of Ahasuerus. In the first place, he desired to secure the king's
friendship for the Jews, and more especially his permission for the
rebuilding of the Temple. Then he feared, if the king were
murdered immediately after his rise to a high place in the state, the
heathen would assign as the cause of the disaster his connection
with the Jews his marriage with Esther and the appointment of
Mordecai to office.

Esther's confidence in Mordecai's piety was so great that she
unhesitatingly gave credence to the message she received from
him concerning the mischievous plot hatched against the king. She
believed that God would execute the wishes of Mordecai. Albeit
Bigthan and Teresh had no plans of the sort attributed to them by
her uncle, they would conceive then now in order to make
Mordecai's words true. That Esther's confidence was justified
appeared at once. The conspirators got wind of their betrayal to the
king, and in good time they removed the poison they had already
placed in Ahasuerus's cup. But that the lie might not be given to
Mordecai, God caused poison to appear where none had been, and
the conspirators were convicted of their crime. (88) The king had
the water analyzed which he was given to drink, and it was made
manifest that it contained poison. (89) Other evidence besides
existed against the two plotters. It was established that both had at
the same time busied themselves about the person of the king,
though the regulations of the palace assigned definite hours of
service to the one different from those assigned to the other. This
made it clear that they intended to perpetrate a dark deed in
common. (90)

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