מדרש על איוב 34:30

This is what Scripture says: (Job 34:30) "That the godless should not reign, lest the people be trapped (memokshei am)." [An argument between] Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish: Rabbi Yochanan says, "If you see a godless and wicked person as the leader of the generation, it would be better for the generation to fly into the air and not to serve him, and the language of "memokshei am" only means to be trapped, as it similarly says (Amos 3:5) "Can a bird fall into a trap if there is no lure (mokesh) for it?". "That the godless should not reign..." Our rabbis stated: Once kings were appointed in Israel, they started to be enslave them. Says the Holy One, blessed be He, "You haven't abandoned Me, yet you want kings?" That's what it means, (Deuteronomy 17:14) "I will appoint for myself a king." This is what Scripture says: (Psalms 146:3) "Do not place trust in important people..." Rabbi Simon said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: Anyone who trusts in God merits to be like Him. How do we know? As it says: (Jeremiah 17:7) "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord." But anyone who places trusts in pagan worship, he becomes indebted to be like it. How do we know? As it says, (Psalms 115:8) "May they who make them become like them, [and everyone who trusts in them.]" Our rabbis said: Anyone who relies on man transgresses, even for his protection, he transgresses, for it says, (Psalms 146:3), "...in humans who cannot save." What does it say afterwards? (Psalms 146:4) "His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth." Says the Holy One, blesses be He: They know that humans are nothing, yet they put aside My Glory and say: "Appoint for us a king"? What do you want a king for? By your lives, your end will be to feel what will happen to you in the future under the reign of your kings!" How do we know? As it says, (Hosea 7:7) "All their kings have fallen; there is none among them who call me."

Rabbi Levi began: “But if you will not dispossess the inhabitants of the land from before you, those who you leave will be like thorns in your eyes, and like stones in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land you inhabit” (Numbers 33:55). [This verse] refers to Saul. When Samuel said to him: “Now go and smite Amalek” (I Samuel 15:3), he said to him: You went innocent and you returned guilty and spared him, as it is stated: “Saul and the people spared Agag” (I Samuel 15:9). A scion will remain from him, who will perform harsh actions against you; “will be like thorns in your eyes, and like stones in your sides.” And who is that? It is Haman, who said: “To destroy, to kill, and to eliminate” (Esther 3:13). When everyone saw that it was so, they began screaming: ‘Woe [vai];’ “it was [vayhi] during the days of Aḥashverosh” (Esther 1:1).

Rabbi Ḥanina bar Ada began: [“The words of the mouth of a wise man are grace, and the lips of a fool will swallow him” (Ecclesiastes 10:12).] “The words of the mouth of a wise man are grace” – that is Cyrus, as it is stated: “So said Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has commanded me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah” (Ezra 1:2). “And the lips of a fool will swallow him” – as he (Cyrus) said: “He is the God who is in Jerusalem”¹²The implication being that He is only the god of Jerusalem, which demonstrates Cyrus’ foolishness. (Ezra 1:3).
“The beginning of the words from his mouth is foolishness and the result from his mouth is evil debauchery” (Ecclesiastes 10:13). What is the foolishness? “Any of you from all His people, may his God be with him…”¹³“His God,” implying that other nations have their own gods. (Ezra 1:3). “The result from his mouth is evil debauchery,” as he decreed, saying: Whoever crossed the Euphrates, crossed; and whoever has not crossed, shall not cross.
Another matter: “The beginning of the words...” that is Aḥashverosh, as it is stated: “In the reign of Aḥashverosh, at the beginning of his reign, they wrote a libel against the residents of Judah and Jerusalem.” (Ezra 4:6). “The result from his mouth is evil debauchery,” as he went up and cancelled the work on the Temple. When everyone saw that it was so, they began screaming: ‘Woe [vai];’ “it was [vayhi] during the days of Aḥashverosh” (Esther 1:1).

Rabbi Yuda son of Rabbi Simon began: “From a hypocritical person’s rule; from snares of the people” (Job 34:30). Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish: Rabbi Yoḥanan said: When the king is a hypocrite and rules the people, “from snares [mimokeshei] of the people,” it is due to the stubbornness [kashyuteihen] and the liabilities of the people who do not perform the will of the Creator of the world. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: It is preferable for people to grow themselves wings and fly in the air rather than for them to be turned over and subjugated to a hypocritical king.
Alternatively, “from a hypocritical person’s rule,” that is Aḥashverosh, who was hypocritical, who killed his wife because of his friend, and a different time killed his friend because of his wife.
Abba Oriyan of Sidon said five things in the name of Rabban Gamliel:
When lying judges increase, lying witnesses increase.
When informants increase, the property of the people is plundered.
When brazenness increases, glory, majesty, and honor are taken from the people.
When the actions of beloved children anger their Father in Heaven, He sets over them a hypocritical king who exacts retribution from them.¹⁴Abba Oriyan is said to list five things he heard from Rabban Gamliel, and this list contains only four. In Yalkut Shimoni, Esther, 1,044, the following is inserted here: “When the younger says to the elder: I am greater than you, the lives of people are truncated.”
And who is this? It is Aḥashverosh. When everyone saw that it was so, they began screaming; ‘Woe [vai];’ “it was [vayhi] during the days of Aḥashverosh” (Esther 1:1).

"From the kingship of the hypocritical man from the snares of the people" (Job 34:30) Abba Gurion, from Sidon, said five things in the name of Rabban Gamliel: (1) When lying judges multiply, lying witnesses multiply. (2) When informants multiply, the people's money is taken. (3) When brazenness multiplies, glory, majesty, and honor are taken from the people. (4) When a younger says to an elder, "I am better than you," the years of people are shortened. (5) When the beloved children act in a way that angers their Father in Heaven, He raises above them a hypocritical king who exacts retribution from them. This is King Aḥashverosh, of whom it is said, "From the kingship of the hypocritical man ." And why did the Holy Blessed One make a hypocritical man king? For the sake of the snares of the people. And why was Aḥashverosh called hypocritical? Because he killed his wife Vashti because of his friend Memukhan, and he killed his friend Haman because of his wife Esther. There is great hypocrisy there. And thus when everyone saw this, they began to cry out, "Woe!" ( vay) – "and so it was" (vay'hi) in the days of Aḥasheverosh (Esther 1:1)