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Tosfos in Megilah (13b, s.v. הַכֶּסֶף נָתוּן לָךְ ) expound the pasuk in Esther (3:11)

וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ לְהָמָן, הַכֶּסֶף נָתוּן לָךְ; וְהָעָם, לַעֲשׂוֹת בּוֹ כַּטּוֹב בְּעֵינֶיךָ - And the king said unto Haman: 'The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.'

They explain that the word הַכֶּסֶף is the numerical equivalent of haeitz (the tree) hinting to him that Haman would eventually end up hanging on a tree.

  1. Doesn't this imply that they (or at least Achashveirosh) were speaking Hebrew as opposed to their native tongue? Why would this be so?
  2. Does this imply that Achashveirosh had prophecy (or ruach hakodesh)?
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  • maybe its just a midrash...
    – mevaqesh
    Commented Aug 11, 2016 at 9:16

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Rashi Breishis 45:18 says that Paroh - "Niba V'Aino Yodeya Ma Niba ניבא ואינו יודע מה ניבא" - said something which was prophetic yet he did not know what he said. Most likely the same holds true regarding Achashveirosh, and he had no Ruach HaKodesh.

Regarding Lashon HaKodesh Chasam Sofer Derush L'Zayin Adar 5568 clearly says that he only spoke Persian to Haman.

דהרי אחשורש לא דבר עמו בלשון הקודש הכסף שיהי גמטרי' העץ אלא א"ל בלשון פרסי

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    not sure how the second part works, does the gematria work in Farsi?
    – user1668
    Commented Nov 15, 2012 at 15:54

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