Midrasch zu Esther 1:10

“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 Aḥashverosh,” (Esther 1:10).
“On the seventh day” – Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: That was the day of Shabbat. “When the king was merry with wine” – idolaters do not have good [tova], as it is written: “And good [vetov] will not be for the wicked…” (Ecclesiastes 8:13). They objected: Is it not written: “When the king was merry [ketov lev hamelekh]¹⁴Literally, when the king’s heart was good. The question arises from the fact that the king’s heart was good even though he was an idolater. with wine”? He said to him [the person who raised the objection]: “In the good [betov] of the king’s heart” is not written here, rather “like the good [ketov] of the king’s heart” – good but not good.¹⁵Ketov is usually translated as “when [the king’s heart was] good,” i.e. when he was merry. The midrash is reading the prepositional prefix ke- to mean approximately, i.e. the king’s heart was approximately good, i.e. good but not good. However, the good for Israel is complete good, as it says [regarding Israel after the inauguration of the first Temple]: “…they went to their tents, joyful and good of heart over all the goodness that the Lord had shown…” (I Kings 8:66).

“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: “Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's word by means of the officials, and the king was very angry, and his fury burned within him” (Esther 1:12). and said to him: “Bizzeta” – plunder his house [boz beitei];¹⁷“House,” in this context, can mean his wife. “Ḥarvona” – destroy his house [aḥriv beitei]; “Bigta and Avagta” – Plunder [buz] and despoil [bizbuz].¹⁸Replace the gimmel with a zayin. Bigta and Avagta thus becomes Bizta and Avazta, which sounds like a form of the verb buz meaning to despoil or plunder. Rabbi Shimon son of Rabbi Yannai said: The Holy One blessed be He said: I will make sport of them; I will bring the weaving women¹⁹Who gossip and mock. Buz can also mean mock. from behind the loom. “Zetar” – Rabbi Yaakov bar Avina explained before Rabbi Yitzḥak: See the licentiousness [zenut re’e] of that wicked one. “veKharkas” – Karkesa is written.²⁰That is not how in appears in the Masoretic text of the book of Esther. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: It is in the Greek language; that is what you say: Proclaim their doom [karkason]. “The seven officials who attended King Ahashverosh” – as the kingdom does not allow there to be less than seven officials before the king.

“The king was very angry and his fury burned within him.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At that moment, The Holy One blessed be He said to the angel appointed over fury: Descend and blow wind into his belly, and fan his embers, and cast sulfur into his furnace. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: All those years, from the moment that Vashti was killed until Esther entered, the fury of Aḥashverosh did not abate. They raised an objection – but isn’t it written: “When the fury of King Aḥashverosh had abated [keshokh]” (Esther 2:1)? He said to them: With the abating of [beshokh] the fury of the king is not written here, but rather, like the abating [keshokh] the fury of the king; abating that is not abating.²⁴The midrash is reading the prepositional prefix ke- to mean “like” rather than “when,” indicating that the king’s fury only abated somewhat. When did his fury abate? When Haman was impaled; that is what is written: “They hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordekhai, and the king's fury abated” (Esther 7:10) – the fury of the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, abated.