We all know the plot: King Ahasuerus killed Vashti, married Esther, the cousin of Mordecai the Jew, who was the arch-enemy of Haman, who sought to annihilate all the Jews and was ultimately hanged on the gallows. But behind the scenes of the Book of Esther – aka the Megillah (meaning “the Scroll” in Hebrew) – lies an entire world. The additional details not spelled out in the text were passed down by the Sages in the Midrashim (rabbinic elaborations on biblical texts), the Gemara (the central text of the Talmud, the body of Jewish law and tradition), and elsewhere – preserved despite the difficult conditions of exile, sometime between the destruction of the First Temple and the building of the Second. A peek into those sources reveals a story quite different from what we learned as kids.
1. Ahasuerus’ Previous Job: Horsekeeper
According to the Midrash, Vashti was the one with royal blood – Ahasuerus came from no noble lineage whatsoever. His previous position had been as a stable hand for Vashti’s father, Belshazzar. Ahasuerus bribed his way to the crown and married Vashti to legitimize his rule. Only after three years, when he finally felt secure on his throne, did he hold the famous banquet.
2. Vashti’s Questionable Pedigree
Vashti was not only Belshazzar’s daughter – she was also the great-granddaughter of Nebuchadnezzar. This lineage expressed itself in her contempt for Jewish women, whom she humiliated and forced to work on the Sabbath. It was also she who incited Ahasuerus to halt the reconstruction of the Temple: “My great-grandfather destroyed it, and you want to rebuild it? You’re undoing the work of generations!”
3. Mordecai: One of Ahasuerus’ Senior Ministers
The Sages tell us that Mordecai was not just any bystander – he was one of the senior ministers in Ahasuerus’ government, which explains why he is repeatedly described as moving about near the king’s gate. Before the destruction of the First Temple, he had also been a leading member of the Sanhedrin (the supreme Jewish legislative and judicial body of ancient Israel). Exiled by Nebuchadnezzar, he eventually settled in Shushan (the royal capital of the Persian Empire, in present-day Iran), where he led the Jewish community. The Gemara also counts him among the 48 prophets who prophesied before the nation.
4. Who Was Memuchan?
The Megillah’s character Hatach – the messenger between Esther and Mordecai – is identified by the Sages as none other than the prophet Daniel, demoted from royal advisor to royal errand-runner. As for Memuchan, who counseled Ahasuerus to dispose of Vashti, the Sages are divided: some say he was Haman, angling to install his own daughter as queen; others say he was Daniel, unwittingly clearing the path for Esther.
5. Why Did Haman Really Hate Mordecai?
It wasn’t just about the bow. According to the Midrash, Mordecai and Haman once served together as senior officers on a joint military mission. When Haman’s soldiers ran out of food and threatened to kill him, he went to Mordecai to beg for rations – and in exchange, pledged to be his servant, going so far as to tattoo this commitment onto his thigh. Back in Shushan, freshly promoted, Haman forgot his pledge and demanded that Mordecai bow to him. Mordecai tapped Haman’s thigh, as a reminder. The Midrash adds that Haman also wore an idol on his garment, giving Mordecai further religious grounds to refuse to bow.
6. Haman the Barber of the Village of Kartzum
After Ahasuerus decided that Haman would lead Mordecai the Jew through the city on horseback, crying out “This is what is done for the man whom the king desires to honor!”, Haman suffered further humiliations. These are described in Tractate Megillah (16a) and reveal an unfamiliar chapter of his professional past. Here is a translation from the Aramaic:
Haman said to him: Stand up, put on these garments and ride on this horse, for the king wants you to do so. Mordecai said to him: I cannot do so until I enter the bathhouse and trim my hair, for it is not proper conduct to use the king’s garments in this state that I am in now.In the meantime, Esther sent messengers and closed all the bathhouses and all the shops of the craftsmen, including the bloodletters and barbers. When Haman saw that there was nobody else to do the work, he himself took Mordecai into the bathhouse and washed him, and then he went and brought scissors from his house and trimmed his hair. While he was trimming his hair he injured himself and sighed. Mordecai said to him: Why do you sigh? Haman said to him: The man whom the king had once regarded above all his other ministers is now made a bathhouse attendant and a barber. Mordecai said to him: Wicked man, were you not once the barber of the village of Kartzum? If so, why do you sigh? You have merely returned to the occupation of your youth. It was taught in a baraita: Haman was the barber of the village of Kartzum for twenty-two years. After Haman trimmed his hair, Haman dressed Mordecai in the royal garments. Haman then said to him: Mount the horse and ride. Mordecai said to him: I am unable, as my strength has waned from the days of fasting that I observed. Haman then stooped down before him and Mordecai ascended on him. As he was ascending the horse, Mordecai gave Haman a kick. Haman said to him: Is it not written for you: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls” (Proverbs 24:17)? Mordecai said to him: This statement applies only to Jews, but with regard to you it is written: “And you shall tread upon their high places.”
7. Literary Editing: Esther
The Book of Esther was written by Mordecai and Esther themselves. Mordecai drafted the original, but Esther – once her Jewish identity was revealed – took responsibility for the literary editing, as the text itself indicates. She then petitioned contemporary sages to “establish me for all generations”: to include the Megillah in the biblical canon, written on parchment like a Torah scroll. The sages debated – the canonicity of Esther was genuinely contested, as the rabbis were careful about which texts qualified as sacred scripture – but eventually agreed, and the Book of Esther was immortalized in the Bible.
8. What Happened to Esther After the Megillah?
Despite the joyful ending, Esther remained in the palace against her will. Some comfort came when Ahasuerus died just a year later. The full arc – from Esther’s entry into the palace to the final salvation – spanned nine years, leaving her a widow a decade into her marriage. The next king was Darius II, her son with Ahasuerus, considered Jewish under Jewish law. Since he was young when he ascended to the throne, it was Esther who effectively governed.
9. Mordecai Was Beloved by Most – but Not All – of His Brethren
The Megillah says Mordecai was “popular with the multitude of his brethren” – not all of them. Rashi (the preeminent medieval Torah commentator, 1040–1105) explains: some members of the Sanhedrin distanced themselves because Mordecai had grown close to the monarchy at the expense of his Torah study. He had ranked third in the Sanhedrin but was demoted to fourth as a result. The Sages are clear that Torah study takes precedence over communal involvement – even when that involvement, as in Mordecai’s case, is driven purely by duty and devotion to his people.
10. The Mysterious Identity of Harbonah
Harbonah was one of the king’s chamberlains – not a hero, but a shrewd opportunist who shifted allegiance from Haman to Mordecai at the right moment, and in doing so helped bring about Israel’s salvation. Yet we end the Megillah reading with the words “Harbonah, may he be remembered for good” – a deliberate expression of gratitude, however modest the deed. Some Sages go further, identifying Harbonah as Elijah the Prophet in disguise, sent to remind Ahasuerus of Haman’s gallows – which is why his blessing echoes the traditional formula: “Elijah the Prophet, may he be remembered for good.”
This article was originally published in Hebrew.
Main Photo:The Coronation of Esther\ Wikipedia
