Midrash sur Esther 1:19
אִם־עַל־הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ ט֗וֹב יֵצֵ֤א דְבַר־מַלְכוּת֙ מִלְּפָנָ֔יו וְיִכָּתֵ֛ב בְּדָתֵ֥י פָֽרַס־וּמָדַ֖י וְלֹ֣א יַעֲב֑וֹר אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹֽא־תָב֜וֹא וַשְׁתִּ֗י לִפְנֵי֙ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵר֔וֹשׁ וּמַלְכוּתָהּ֙ יִתֵּ֣ן הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ לִרְעוּתָ֖הּ הַטּוֹבָ֥ה מִמֶּֽנָּה׃
Si donc tel est le bon plaisir du roi, qu’un rescrit royal, émané de lui et consigné dans les lois de Perse et de Médie, de façon à ne pouvoir être rapporté, dispose que Vasthi ne paraîtra plus devant le roi Assuérus, et que sa dignité royale sera conférée par le roi à une autre femme valant mieux qu’elle.
Esther Rabbah
“Memukhan said before the king and the princes: It is not against the king alone that Vashti the queen has sinned; rather, it is against all the princes and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of Aḥashverosh the king” (Esther 1:16).
What did Memukhan see that led him to leap and offer counsel first? [One can learn] from here that the ignorant leap first. Rabbi Pinḥas and Rabbi Ḥilkiya in the name of Rabbi Simon, and Rabbi Elazar, and Rabbi Yoḥanan. One said: Our legal system is like their legal system, and one said: Our legal system is not like their legal system. The one who said our legal system is like their legal system, it is as we learned (Sanhedrin 32a): In monetary laws, and in matters of ritual impurity and purity, one commences from the greatest judge. In capital laws, one commences from the side.14Meaning., the lowest ranking judge. The one who said that our legal system is not like their legal system, what is the significance of “Memukhan said?” [It is comparable to:] The statement of Rabbi Yehuda appears to be correct. [Likewise:] The statement of Memukhan appears to be correct.15There is no indication who spoke first, and the reason only Memukhan’s counsel is mentioned is because his counsel was that which was accepted.
Rabbi Yoḥanan said there are three amora’im [who explained why Memukhan sought to depose Vashti]. One said: Because she would slap him with her slippers on this side and that. Another said: Because she did not invite his wife to the women’s banquet. And the other said: Because he had a daughter and he sought to marry her to royalty. The one who said: Because she would slap him with her slippers on this side and that, it is as he said: “It is not against the king alone that Vashti has committed an offense” (Esther 1:16). And the one who said: Because she did not invite his wife to the women’s banquet, it is as he said: “For the queen’s deed will get out to all the women, rendering their husbands contemptible in their eyes” (Esther 1:17); that [indicates that] she was not there. And the one who said: Because he had a daughter and he sought to marry her to royalty, as he said: “And may the king grant her queenship to another who is worthier than she” (Esther 1:19).16This opinion is alluded to by the fact that Memukhan brings up the possibility of a better queen.
What did Memukhan see that led him to leap and offer counsel first? [One can learn] from here that the ignorant leap first. Rabbi Pinḥas and Rabbi Ḥilkiya in the name of Rabbi Simon, and Rabbi Elazar, and Rabbi Yoḥanan. One said: Our legal system is like their legal system, and one said: Our legal system is not like their legal system. The one who said our legal system is like their legal system, it is as we learned (Sanhedrin 32a): In monetary laws, and in matters of ritual impurity and purity, one commences from the greatest judge. In capital laws, one commences from the side.14Meaning., the lowest ranking judge. The one who said that our legal system is not like their legal system, what is the significance of “Memukhan said?” [It is comparable to:] The statement of Rabbi Yehuda appears to be correct. [Likewise:] The statement of Memukhan appears to be correct.15There is no indication who spoke first, and the reason only Memukhan’s counsel is mentioned is because his counsel was that which was accepted.
Rabbi Yoḥanan said there are three amora’im [who explained why Memukhan sought to depose Vashti]. One said: Because she would slap him with her slippers on this side and that. Another said: Because she did not invite his wife to the women’s banquet. And the other said: Because he had a daughter and he sought to marry her to royalty. The one who said: Because she would slap him with her slippers on this side and that, it is as he said: “It is not against the king alone that Vashti has committed an offense” (Esther 1:16). And the one who said: Because she did not invite his wife to the women’s banquet, it is as he said: “For the queen’s deed will get out to all the women, rendering their husbands contemptible in their eyes” (Esther 1:17); that [indicates that] she was not there. And the one who said: Because he had a daughter and he sought to marry her to royalty, as he said: “And may the king grant her queenship to another who is worthier than she” (Esther 1:19).16This opinion is alluded to by the fact that Memukhan brings up the possibility of a better queen.
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Esther Rabbah
“If it please the king, let a royal edict be issued before you, and let it be written into the laws of Persia and Media, so that it cannot be abrogated, that Vashti shall never [again] enter the presence of King Aḥashverosh, and may the king grant her queenship to another who is worthier than she” (Esther 1:19).
He [Memukhan] said to him: ‘My master the king, let the word emerge from your mouth, and I will bring in her head in to you on a platter.’ “And let it be written into the laws of Persia and Media, so that it cannot be abrogated…” – Rabbi Ḥanina son of Rabbi Abbahu said: It is written: “For He causes pain and He bandages; He crushes and His hands heal” (Job 5:18). In the language that [announced that] the kingdom was being taken from her [Esther’s] ancestor, as Samuel said to him [Saul]: “And has given it to another, who is worthier than you” (I Samuel 15:28), in the same language, the kingdom was returned to him [to Saul, through his descendant Esther]; that is what is written: “And the king will give her queenship to another who is worthier than she” [that being Esther].
He [Memukhan] said to him: ‘My master the king, let the word emerge from your mouth, and I will bring in her head in to you on a platter.’ “And let it be written into the laws of Persia and Media, so that it cannot be abrogated…” – Rabbi Ḥanina son of Rabbi Abbahu said: It is written: “For He causes pain and He bandages; He crushes and His hands heal” (Job 5:18). In the language that [announced that] the kingdom was being taken from her [Esther’s] ancestor, as Samuel said to him [Saul]: “And has given it to another, who is worthier than you” (I Samuel 15:28), in the same language, the kingdom was returned to him [to Saul, through his descendant Esther]; that is what is written: “And the king will give her queenship to another who is worthier than she” [that being Esther].
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