In Megillas Esther it says that Haman told the ones who loved him, and zeresh, about his wealth and his many children. Why did he have to tell zeresh about his many children? Hadn’t she birthed them? Can we learn from here that haman had more than one wife?
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Megillah 15b records that Haman either had 30, 90, or 208 children total (ten of whom died in childhood and ten of whom died toward the end of the Megillah; the rest were reduced to poverty and forced to beg). It's not possible that Haman had only one wife.– DonielFMar 22, 2019 at 15:18
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That is a part of the Gemara with a lot of agadeta, I wouldn’t take it too seriously– Lo aniMar 24, 2019 at 19:57
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judaism.stackexchange.com/q/4037 There’s a difference between taking it literally and taking it seriously. It might not be literal, perhaps, but one should assume that Chazal aren’t stupid; if it’s not literal, then what are they trying to teach us? I tend to follow the Rambam’s view on Midrashim; some are literal, some are metaphorical, and one should take each Midrash and examine it to see which approach makes sense.– DonielFMar 24, 2019 at 20:04
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1 Answer
The Ibn Ezra explains that of course his wife knew she had children with him, but he was relating all of his good fortune, as in "I have so much money and such a great family" -- he was bragging not about the numbers but the greatness of his children.
Immanuel of Rome explains that he was saying that even though he had many children, that doesn't compare to the fact that Mordechai won't bow. His relaying the facts wasn't informational, but a lead in to the importance of Mordechai's refusal.
