These midrashim struck me as silly. Like children playing with words, which, I suppose, is kind of cute. Perhaps they prepared the way for our modern Purim spiels which also tend to make fun of the story. I suppose the rabbis thought the midrashim were worth preserving because they provided an occasion to mention some virtues the authors hoped Jews would take seriously. I like the modern midrashim better: Esther is an adaptation of a Persian folk tale featuring a foolish old king, a lovely young woman (a virgin?), a wicked, wicked man, and an avuncular, wise older man. Sure sounds like a folk tale.
Esther is the name of a babylonian goddess (Ashtarte) and Mordecai is a babylonian greeting, meaning Marduk [a babylonian god] lives!
These midrashim struck me as silly. Like children playing with words, which, I suppose, is kind of cute. Perhaps they prepared the way for our modern Purim spiels which also tend to make fun of the story. I suppose the rabbis thought the midrashim were worth preserving because they provided an occasion to mention some virtues the authors hoped Jews would take seriously. I like the modern midrashim better: Esther is an adaptation of a Persian folk tale featuring a foolish old king, a lovely young woman (a virgin?), a wicked, wicked man, and an avuncular, wise older man. Sure sounds like a folk tale.
Esther is the name of a babylonian goddess (Ashtarte) and Mordecai is a babylonian greeting, meaning Marduk [a babylonian god] lives!