Tell me more ×
Mi Yodeya is a question and answer site for those who base their lives on Jewish law and tradition and anyone interested in learning more. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 8 down vote favorite

The m'gila says clearly that Ester was "bas dodo", which seems to mean she was the daughter of Mord'chay's uncle, i.e., his first cousin. The targum renders this as "b'ras achvoy". Does that mean "his niece"? If not, then where does the common claim that Ester was Mord'chay's niece come from? Alternatively, if so, then is there a commentary on the m'gila that says explicitly that she was his cousin?

share|improve this question
1  
The m'gila also calls her his dod. – WAF Mar 21 '11 at 21:56
R'WAF, pardon? Where? – msh210♦ Mar 22 '11 at 19:06

1 Answer

up vote 5 down vote accepted

R' Ari Zivotofsky has a nice article on this subject, explaining the possible reasons for this misconception: http://www.ou.org/torah/article/tzarich_iyun_mordechai_and_esther

share|improve this answer
I've accepted this, and I thank you, R'Dave, for the link, but still wonder whether someone can translate b'ras achvoy for me (as asked for in the question). – msh210♦ Mar 22 '11 at 19:10
2  
אחבוי is a contraction of אח אבוהי , meaning "the brother of his father." ("Brother" would be אחוי or אחוהי.) I now see that this was noted in the comments to Josh Waxman's post on the topic: parsha.blogspot.com/2006/11/… – Dave Mar 22 '11 at 20:01
3  
Perhaps you should consider summarizing the relevant portions here. – HodofHod Feb 22 '12 at 3:18
1  
Basically: Mordechai was Esther's cousin. At some point, because he was much older and raised her, someone started saying "Uncle Mordechai", and somehow it stuck. (To make it worse, the verse says "Esther the daughter of Avichayil, [the] uncle [of] Mordechai"; someone may have erroneously heard the soundbite "uncle Mordechai", though the full sentence can't parse that way.) Rabbi Zivotovsky's article even catches a very great Torah scholar (who certainly knew better) once slipping up and saying "Uncle Mordechai." – Shalom Jan 3 at 23:15
1  
Thanks, @Shalom! The article also mentions that two early non-Jewish translations rendered the verse incorrectly, which introduced this erroneous idea into Catholic tradition, from whence it may have spread. – Dave Jan 4 at 0:04
show 1 more comment

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.