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Megillah 13a

מגילה י״ג ע״א

Learn Megillah 13a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Megillah 13a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Midrashic readings of names and verses about מרדכי and אסתר, including why מרדכי is called יהודי and the side discussion of בתיה בת פרעה.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing רבא's reading of 'what the יהודי did to me and what the ימיני paid me back.' דוד spared שמעי, ancestor of מרדכי, and שאול spared אגג, ancestor of המן. רבי יוחנן says מרדכי was really from בנימין and is called יהודי because he rejected עבודה זרה. רבי שמעון בן פזי then shows the same idea in דברי הימים: בתיה בת פרעה is called היהודיה for rejecting her father's idols. From the same פסוק the גמרא learns that raising an orphan counts as giving birth, and that all six names in it are nicknames for משה. It also explains why כלב is called מרד. The גמרא then goes back to מגילת אסתר and explains verse after verse: מרדכי going into exile on his own, the names הדסה and אסתר, her being an orphan, and רבי מאיר's reading that מרדכי married her. It goes on through her seven maids, her food, the oil of myrrh, and how she found favor with everyone. It ends with the king's failed attempts to make her reveal her people, and רבי אלעזר begins a new teaching that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דְּלָא קַטְלֵיהּ דָּוִד לְשִׁמְעִי,

that David did not kill Shimei,

דְּאִתְיְלִיד מִינֵּיהּ מָרְדֳּכַי

so that Mordechai was born from him,

דְּמִיקַּנֵּי בֵּיהּ הָמָן.

the one Haman was jealous of.

וּמָה שִׁילֵּם לִי יְמִינִי —

And "what the Benjamite paid me back" means:

The steps (37)

  1. StatementTwo kings who did not kill their enemies
  2. Statementמרדכי was from בנימין, called יהודי for rejecting idols
  3. Statementרבי שמעון בן פזי's opening to דברי הימים
  4. QuestionWhy is פרעה's daughter called יהודיה?
  5. ResponseShe rejected her father's idols
  6. ChallengeDid בתיה really give birth to משה?
  7. ResolutionRaising an orphan counts as giving birth
  8. StatementEvery name in the פסוק is a nickname for משה
  9. StatementThe three times 'אבי' means משה was a father in three ways
  10. ChallengeWhy is בתיה's husband called מרד?
  11. ResolutionTwo rebels married each other
  12. Statementמרדכי went into exile on his own
  13. QuestionWhy does the queen have two names?
  14. Responseרבי מאיר: her name was אסתר, and הדסה describes her righteousness
  15. Statementרבי יהודה: her name was הדסה, and אסתר means she hid things
  16. Statementרבי נחמיה: אסתר was the name the nations gave her
  17. Statementבן עזאי: הדסה describes her medium height
  18. Statementרבי יהושע בן קרחה: הדסה describes her greenish color
  19. QuestionWhy does the verse repeat that she had no parents?
  20. ResponseShe never had parents even for a single day
  21. StatementRead it as 'for a house,' meaning a wife
  22. ProofSupport from the poor man's lamb
  23. ProofWhy 'like a daughter' must mean a wife
  24. StatementThe seven maids helped her keep track of the days
  25. Statementהגי gave her Jewish food
  26. Statementהגי fed her pig meat
  27. Statementרבי יוחנן: הגי fed her vegetables
  28. QuestionWhat is 'oil of myrrh'?
  29. ResponseTwo definitions: perfumed oil or unripe olive oil
  30. ProofA ברייתא supports רב הונא and explains the oil's use
  31. StatementA hidden praise of אחשורוש
  32. StatementEveryone saw אסתר as one of their own people
  33. StatementWhy the month of טבת mattered
  34. StatementWhy the king loved אסתר more than everyone
  35. StatementThe king's feast, tax break, and gifts
  36. Statementמרדכי's advice and אסתר's continued silence
  37. Statementרבי אלעזר opens a new verse explanation