Ahasuerus

Biblical Figures

Ahasuerus was the king of Persia in the book of Esther. He agreed to his advisor Haman's plans to eradicate the Jews and confiscate their property, but his Jewish wife Esther and her cousin Mordekhai foiled the plot when Esther revealed her true identity as a Jew.

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The Splendor of King Ahasuerus's Kingdom

TANAKH

The vastness and splendor of King Ahasuerus's kingdom, ruling over 127 provinces, is a testament to his immense power and wealth. The Book of Esther describes King Ahasuerus's grand 180-day banquet, showcasing his kingdom's wealth and majesty.

It happened in the days of Ahasuerus—that Ahasuerus who reigned over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces from India to Nubia. In those days, when King Ahasuerus occupied the royal throne in the fortress Shushan, in the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all the officials and courtiers—the administration of Persia and Media, the nobles and the governors of the provinces in his service. For no fewer than a hundred and eighty days he displayed the vast riches of his kingdom and the splendid glory of his majesty.

Esther 1:1-4

The Sleepless Night of Ahasuerus

TALMUD

King Ahasuerus's sleeplessness is not just a plot device but a moment of divine intervention with profound spiritual implications. The Talmudic tractate Megillah explores various interpretations of Ahasuerus's disturbed sleep, including divine and angelic influences, and his concerns about loyalty and conspiracy.

The verse states: “On that night the sleep of the king was disturbed” (Esther 6:1). Rabbi Tanḥum said: The verse alludes to another king who could not sleep; the sleep of the King of the universe, the Holy One, Blessed be He, was disturbed. And the Sages say: The sleep of the higher ones, the angels, was disturbed, and the sleep of the lower ones, the Jewish people, was disturbed. Rava said: This should be understood literally: The sleep of King Ahasuerus was disturbed…

Megillah 15b:20-21

Ahasuerus's Extravagant Display

MIDRASH

King Ahasuerus flaunted his wealth extravagantly, even displaying the sacred vestments of the High Priest. The medieval midrash Esther Rabbah draws a vivid picture of Ahasuerus's opulence, likening his display to a raven flaunting both its own and others' possessions.

The fool vents all his spirit, and the wise will soothe it, restraining it” (Proverbs 29:11). “The fool vents all his spirit” – this is Aḥashverosh; “and the wise will soothe it, keeping it back” – this is the Holy One, blessed be He, who soothes Aḥashverosh. That is what you said: “Who stills the raging seas, the raging waves, and the tumult of the peoples” (Psalms 65:8).
“With his display of the wealth of his glorious kingdom, and the honor of his splendid majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days” (Esther 1:4)…

Esther Rabbah 2:1

Clash at Ahasuerus' Feast

MIDRASH

The story of Ahasuerus' banquet highlights the stark contrast between Jewish and pagan festivities, emphasizing the moral and cultural differences. Louis Ginzberg's early 20th-century work, Legends of the Jews, retells the story of Queen Vashti and King Ahasuerus from the Book of Esther, focusing on these differences.

Though Ahasuerus had taken every precaution to prevent intemperate indulgence in wine, his banquet revealed the essential difference between Jewish and pagan festivities. When Jews are gathered about a festal board, they discuss a Halakah, or a Haggadah, or, at the least, a simple verse from the Scriptures. Ahasuerus and his boon companions rounded out the banquet with prurient talk. The Persians lauded the charms of the women of their people, while the Medians admitted none superior to the Median women…

Legends of the Jews 4:12:30

Fasting for Deliverance

HALAKHAH

The Jewish people responded to the decree against them with fasting and repentance, seeking divine mercy and protection. Rabbi Eliezer Melamed’s contemporary work, Peninei Halakhah, explores the spiritual and communal practices observed during the Fast of Esther.

The custom of all Jewry, since the geonic period, is to fast on the thirteenth of Adar in commemoration of the fasts that Esther observed before approaching King Aḥashverosh to annul the decree against the Jewish people (Esther 4:16) and the fast that the Jews observed on the thirteenth of Adar of that year. The wicked Haman decreed that on the thirteenth of Adar, all Jews – young and old, children and women – be destroyed, massacred, and exterminated on a single day, and that their possessions be plundered…

Peninei Halakhah, Zemanim 14:9:2

The Opulence of Ahasuerus

MIDRASH

The wealth and opulence of Ahasuerus are depicted in extraordinary detail, showcasing his immense riches and the lavishness of his reign. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a midrashic work, offers a vivid portrayal of Ahasuerus's wealth, including golden and silver couches in the streets and the use of gold vessels.

Rabbi Tachanah said: Come and see how wealthy Ahasuerus was, for he was wealthier than all the kings of Media and Persia, and concerning him the Scripture saith, "And the fourth shall be far richer than they all" (Dan. 11:2). What was the wealth of Ahasuerus? He erected couches of gold and silver in the streets of the city, to show all the peoples how rich he was, as it is said, "The couches were of gold and silver" (Esth. 1:6). All the vessels used by Ahasuerus were not vessels of silver, but vessels of gold…

Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 49:9

A Remedy Before the Blow

COMMENTARY

The Holy One, Blessed be He, creates a remedy for Israel's blow before He brings the blow upon them. Rashi, the renowned 11th-century French biblical commentator, explains how the events in the Book of Esther demonstrate this divine principle.

King [Achashveirosh] conferred eminence on Haman. For the Holy One Blessed Is He, creates a remedy for Yisroel’s blow before He brings the blow upon them.

Rashi on Esther 3:1:2

The Irrational Hatred of Haman

JEWISH THOUGHT

Haman's plot to destroy the Jews was driven purely by his evil impulses and hatred, without any intellectual or rational basis. Naphtali Herz Wessely, an 18th-century scholar, explains that Haman's actions were not described as 'counsel' because they did not stem from thoughtful deliberation.

"to avert the evil of Haman the Agagite and his thought against the Jews" (Esther 8:3): You should know that Haman concluded to destroy the descendants of the Jews. And he acted on his conclusions, since he wrote books to all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to destroy the Jews. And were it not that God was with us, to repeal his counsel, he would have done according to his desire, God forbid. And nevertheless, his plan is never described with the expression, counsel (etzah), and you will not find it in the Scroll of Esther or in another source with the description, counsel…

Gan Naul, House III 10:7:1

Esther's Dilemmas

COMMENTARY

Esther faced significant moral and legal challenges in approaching King Ahasuerus, including the sin of willingly going to a gentile and considerations of menstrual impurity. The Tze'enah Ure'enah, a 16th-century Yiddish commentary, explores these dilemmas and Mordecai's justification for Esther's actions.

Here one asks a question. How is it that such a pious woman should have to be asked and would not go of her own accord. The explanation is that Esther did not want to go on her own accord since it is a sin that she should go to a gentile because Ahasuerus would then sleep with her. Therefore, Mordecai said: I permit it, just like a rabbi that you should go to Ahasuerus and plead for Israel. Esther said: I have not been called in thirty days. That is to say, the king also observes that he does not sleep with a woman when she is menstruating [niddah] and it is thirty days…

Tze'enah Ure'enah, Megillot, Megillat Esther 4:8

The Selection of Queen Esther

SECOND TEMPLE

The detailed process by which Esther was chosen to be queen, including the king's emotional turmoil over Vashti, the extensive search for virgins, and the specific preparations and treatments the virgins underwent before being presented to the king, is important for understanding the Purim story. Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, provides a detailed account of Esther's selection as queen in his work, 'The Antiquities of the Jews.'

2. But the king having been fond of her, did not well bear a separation, and yet by the law he could not admit of a reconciliation; so he was under trouble, as not having it in his power to do what he desired to do. But when his friends saw him so uneasy, they advised him to cast the memory of his wife, and his love for her, out of his mind, but to send abroad over all the habitable earth, and to search out for comely virgins, and to take her whom he should best like for his wife, because his passion for his former wife would be quenched by the introduction of another…

The Antiquities of the Jews 11:6:2

The Royal Fortress of Shushan

COMMENTARY

The Book of Esther provides a vivid description of Shushan, particularly the royal fortress where King Ahasuerus's palace and the central government were located. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz's modern translation and commentary on the Book of Esther offers detailed insights into the geographical and architectural aspects of Shushan.

It happened that in those days, when King Ahashverosh sat on the royal throne that was in the Shushan citadel [habira]. Shushan, also known as Susa, was a city in Elam, whose ruins are still extant. Inside the city was a royal fortress, or citadel [bira], where both the central government and Ahashverosh’s palace were located.

Steinsaltz on Esther 1:2