In Esther 1:9 we read, “ושתי המלכה עשתה משתי נשים” Vashti the queen was made of two women. Aside from being biologically surprising, what are the consequences of this in our understanding of the Megilla?
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1I know this is late; maybe I’ll get an answer next year.– J. C. SalomonCommented Feb 25, 2013 at 18:38
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2There’s a Purim Torah I remember hearing that dealt with this question. I don’t recall the details, but it involved Haman having a detachable nose.– J. C. SalomonCommented Feb 25, 2013 at 18:41
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4הכי קרא שמה ושתי, שהיתה שתי נשים– b aCommented Feb 26, 2013 at 0:37
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2 Answers
One consequence is that Achashverosh had two mothers-in-law. This is further evidenced by the fact that the megilla provides both their names:
- "כְּשֹׁךְ, חֲמַת הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹש" - "Keshoch, the mother-in-law of Achashverosh". (Esther 2:1)
- "וַחֲמַת הַמֶּלֶךְ שָׁכָכָה" - "And the mother-in-law of Achashverosh was Shachacha". (Esther 7:10)
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6@Yitzchak, בערה בו is not a name, but rather a description. "בערה" = "his beast" (as in "ושלח את בערה" of Ex. 22:4), so that the full phrase "וחמתו בערה בו" means "his mother-in-law, his beast, was with him". This implies that one of Vashti's mothers was an animal that belonged to Achashverosh and that she happened to be with him at the time.– jakeCommented Mar 5, 2014 at 0:19
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@ephraimhelfgot, The quote from Shemos and it's translation as "beast" is not a joke. Check any translation to the Chumash, as well as much of the second chapter of Bava Kamma. Only the comparison to Esther was in jest.– jakeCommented Feb 9, 2016 at 22:06
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4This would explain Achashverosh's predilection toward being drunk all the time... Commented Mar 10, 2016 at 20:20
What makes a person a person? His heart. Indeed, when Rashi wants to emphasize that a group of people are like one person, he says "בלב אחד / with one heart". So when the verse you quoted says Vashti was made of two women, all it means is that she had two hearts.
She is, in fact, a Time Lord.
As such, she is able to regenerate into a new form when suffering an injury that would kill humans. This explains why the book of Esther never specifies that she died, only that she lost her position as queen: although Achashverosh tried to kill her, she simply regenerated.
Moreover, Vashti's being a Time Lord and concomitant ability to travel through time explains her appearance at points in history we would not expect her to be at. For example, Ruth 1:9, "ושתי כלותיה / Vashti her daughters-in-law", and Genesis 19:30, "ושתי בנתיו / Vashti his daughters", which use the plural because of Vashti's dual nature.