וּבִשְׁנֵים֩ עָשָׂ֨ר חֹ֜דֶשׁ הוּא־חֹ֣דֶשׁ אֲדָ֗ר בִּשְׁלוֹשָׁ֨ה עָשָׂ֥ר יוֹם֙ בּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֨ר הִגִּ֧יעַ דְּבַר־הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ וְדָת֖וֹ לְהֵעָשׂ֑וֹת בַּיּ֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֨ר שִׂבְּר֜וּ אֹיְבֵ֤י הַיְּהוּדִים֙ לִשְׁל֣וֹט בָּהֶ֔ם וְנַהֲפ֣וֹךְ ה֔וּא אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִשְׁלְט֧וּ הַיְּהוּדִ֛ים הֵ֖מָּה בְּשֹׂנְאֵיהֶֽם׃
Pada bulan kedua belas, yaitu bulan Adar, pada hari ketiga belas bulan itu, ketika titah raja dan undang-undangnya tiba waktunya untuk dilaksanakan, pada hari ketika musuh-musuh orang Yahudi berharap dapat berkuasa atas mereka, keadaannya justru berbalik: orang Yahudi sendirilah yang berkuasa atas orang-orang yang membenci mereka.
Rabbeinu Bahya
A Midrashic approach (Tanchuma Toldot 4) to these verses. The words עטרת זקנים refer to grandchildren. The righteous are crowned by their grandchildren. This is a reference to Avraham who was crowned by the merit of his grandson Yaakov. When Nimrod threw Avraham into the furnace, G’d saved him because of the eventual merits of his grandson Yaakov. This is the meaning of the words in Isaiah 29,22 לכן כה אמר ה' אל בית יעקב אשר פדה את אברהם, “indeed, this is what G’d said to the house of Yaakov who had redeemed Avraham.” How did Yaakov “redeem” Avraham? He redeemed him from Nimrod’s furnace. This is an example of grandparents being crowned by their grandchildren.
How do children “crown” themselves with their fathers? When Yaakov had departed from Lavan and Lavan was in hot pursuit, G’d appeared to him in a dream and warned him not to say anything threatening or complimentary to Yaakov. When, eventually, Lavan caught up with Yaakov he said to him: “had it not been for the fact hat the G’d of your father had addressed me last night, etc.” (Genesis 31,29). Clearly, on that occasion it was Avraham and Yitzchak’s merit which saved Yaakov. Yaakov personally acknowledged this when he said to Lavan during their argument: “if it had not been for the G’d of Avraham and the G’d whom Yitzchak fears who was with me, you would have now sent me away empty-handed” (Genesis 31,42). Lavan was unable to carry out his evil designs due to the interference of the merit of Yaakov’s father and grandfather. Similarly, the evil design of Pharaoh to drown all Jewish boy-babies (Exodus 1,22) boomeranged when G’d drowned Pharaoh and his chariots in the sea (Exodus 15,4). Many hundreds of years later when G’d thwarted the decree of Haman to wipe out all the Jews, it was again the merit of the patriarchs which helped reverse his plan (Esther 9,1). When Bileam wanted to curse the Jewish people and G’d turned his intended curses into blessings (Deut. 23,7), this too was due to the merit of the patriarchs. This is the meaning of Isaiah 54,17 כל כלי יוצר עליך לא יצלח, “No weapon formed against you shall succeed.”
Our sages in the Tanchuma there quoted the Roman Emperor Hadrian as having said to Rabbi Joshua ben Levi that the power of the sheep which stands (has managed to survive) amongst 70 wolves (the Gentile nations) is very great indeed. To this observation Rabbi Joshua replied that it is the power of the shepherd who wards off the attacks against this sheep and breaks the power of the attackers which is great. He quoted the verse from Isaiah 54,17 to support his words. The prophet there referred to the Gentiles who will perish from this world. This is also implied in Jeremiah 2,3 קדש ישראל לה' ראשית תבואתה כל אוכליו יאשמו רעה תבוא עליהם נאום ה'. “Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruit of His harvest. All who ate of it were held guilty, disaster will befall them- declares the Lord.” Our history is full of proof that those who tried to eliminate us were eliminated instead. A few examples are: Pharaoh, Amalek, Siserah, Sancheriv, Nebuchadnezzar, Titus, Hadrian, and many others like them. This is why the prophet compared Israel to something sacred, like an offering. When a non-priest consumes a portion of that which is sacred, the penalty for such people is death. This is why all the Gentile nations who at one time or another have “eaten” part of the Jewish people will pay for that with their very existence.
The reason the Torah had to repeat here that Avraham had fathered Yitzchak was that there were a number of scoffers who attributed Sarah’s pregnancy to her stay at the palace of Avimelech. G’d arranged for Yitzchak to look extraordinarily like his father Avraham in order to discredit the rumours circulated by these scoffers.
How do children “crown” themselves with their fathers? When Yaakov had departed from Lavan and Lavan was in hot pursuit, G’d appeared to him in a dream and warned him not to say anything threatening or complimentary to Yaakov. When, eventually, Lavan caught up with Yaakov he said to him: “had it not been for the fact hat the G’d of your father had addressed me last night, etc.” (Genesis 31,29). Clearly, on that occasion it was Avraham and Yitzchak’s merit which saved Yaakov. Yaakov personally acknowledged this when he said to Lavan during their argument: “if it had not been for the G’d of Avraham and the G’d whom Yitzchak fears who was with me, you would have now sent me away empty-handed” (Genesis 31,42). Lavan was unable to carry out his evil designs due to the interference of the merit of Yaakov’s father and grandfather. Similarly, the evil design of Pharaoh to drown all Jewish boy-babies (Exodus 1,22) boomeranged when G’d drowned Pharaoh and his chariots in the sea (Exodus 15,4). Many hundreds of years later when G’d thwarted the decree of Haman to wipe out all the Jews, it was again the merit of the patriarchs which helped reverse his plan (Esther 9,1). When Bileam wanted to curse the Jewish people and G’d turned his intended curses into blessings (Deut. 23,7), this too was due to the merit of the patriarchs. This is the meaning of Isaiah 54,17 כל כלי יוצר עליך לא יצלח, “No weapon formed against you shall succeed.”
Our sages in the Tanchuma there quoted the Roman Emperor Hadrian as having said to Rabbi Joshua ben Levi that the power of the sheep which stands (has managed to survive) amongst 70 wolves (the Gentile nations) is very great indeed. To this observation Rabbi Joshua replied that it is the power of the shepherd who wards off the attacks against this sheep and breaks the power of the attackers which is great. He quoted the verse from Isaiah 54,17 to support his words. The prophet there referred to the Gentiles who will perish from this world. This is also implied in Jeremiah 2,3 קדש ישראל לה' ראשית תבואתה כל אוכליו יאשמו רעה תבוא עליהם נאום ה'. “Israel was holy to the Lord, the first fruit of His harvest. All who ate of it were held guilty, disaster will befall them- declares the Lord.” Our history is full of proof that those who tried to eliminate us were eliminated instead. A few examples are: Pharaoh, Amalek, Siserah, Sancheriv, Nebuchadnezzar, Titus, Hadrian, and many others like them. This is why the prophet compared Israel to something sacred, like an offering. When a non-priest consumes a portion of that which is sacred, the penalty for such people is death. This is why all the Gentile nations who at one time or another have “eaten” part of the Jewish people will pay for that with their very existence.
The reason the Torah had to repeat here that Avraham had fathered Yitzchak was that there were a number of scoffers who attributed Sarah’s pregnancy to her stay at the palace of Avimelech. G’d arranged for Yitzchak to look extraordinarily like his father Avraham in order to discredit the rumours circulated by these scoffers.