Megillah, Daf Tet Vav, Part One
אמר רב נחמן: מלאכי זה מרדכי, ולמה נקרא שמו מלאכי – שהיה משנה למלך.
מיתיבי: ברוך בן נריה, ושריה בן מעשיה ודניאל, ומרדכי בלשן, וחגי, זכריה ומלאכי – כולן נתנבאו בשנת שתים לדריוש! – תיובתא.
R. Nahman said: Malachi is the same as Mordecai. Why was he called Malachi? Because he was next to the king.
They objected: Baruch the son of Neriah and Serayah the son of Mahseyah and Daniel and Mordecai, Bilshan, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi all prophesied in the second year of Darius!
This is a refutation.
R. Nahman identifies the prophet Malachi with Mordecai. Malach can means "messenger." Mordecai was second to the king (Esther 10:3) and that is why the king called him "Malachi" my messenger.
R. Nahman is refuted with a baraita that lists prophets who prophesied while Darius, the Persian king, was living. Since Mordecai and Malachi are listed separately, they must be separate people.
תניא, אמר רבי יהושע בן קרחה: מלאכי זה עזרא, וחכמים אומרים: מלאכי שמו.
אמר רב נחמן: מסתברא כמאן דאמר מלאכי זה עזרא, דכתיב בנביאות מלאכי: +מלאכי ב‘+ בגדה יהודה ותועבה נעשתה בישראל ובירושלם כי חלל יהודה קדש ה‘ אשר אהב ובעל בת אל נכר, ומאן אפריש נשים נכריות – עזרא, דכתיב +עזרא י‘+ ויען שכניה בן יחיאל מבני עילם ויאמר לעזרא אנחנו מעלנו באלהינו ונשב נשים נכריות.
It has been taught: R. Joshua b. Korha said: Malachi is Ezra, and the Sages say that Malachi was his proper name.
R. Nahman said: It is reasonable to accept the view that Malachi was the same as Ezra. For it is written in the prophecy of Malachi, "Judah has dealt treacherously and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loves and has married the daughter of a strange God" (Malachi 2:11). And who was it that put away the strange women? Ezra, as it is written, "And Shechaniah the son of Yehiel, one of the sons of Elam answered and said unto Ezra: We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women" (Ezra 10:2).
R. Joshua b. Korha identifies Malachi with Ezra, an identification accepted by R. Nahman who notes the similarity in message. Both Malachi and Ezra oppose the intermarriage with the local women that Israelites (Judeans) were engaging in. Ezra, in the verse that follows the verse quoted here, even goes so far as to demand that all the Israelites send away their foreign women.
The sages say that Malachi was his actual name, it was not a nickname for something else.
תנו רבנן: ארבע נשים יפיפיות היו בעולם: שרה (ואביגיל, רחב) +מסורת הש"ס: [רחב ואביגיל]+, ואסתר. ולמאן דאמר אסתר ירקרוקת היתה – מפיק אסתר ומעייל ושתי.
The Rabbis taught: There have been four beautiful women in the world Sarah, Rahab, Abigail and Esther. According to the one who says that Esther was green, Vashti should be inserted in place of Esther.
The baraita identifies four women who were known for their surpassing beauty. However, there was an interpretation above on 13a that Esther was green. The author of this opinion would have to hold that Vashti and not Esther was one of the four most beautiful women.
תנו רבנן: רחב בשמה זינתה, יעל בקולה, אביגיל בזכירתה, מיכל בת שאול בראייתה. אמר רבי יצחק: כל האומר רחב רחב – מיד ניקרי. אמר ליה רב נחמן: אנא אמינא רחב רחב ולא איכפת לי! – אמר ליה: כי קאמינא – ביודעה ובמכירה.
Our Rabbis taught: Rahab inspired lust by her name; Yael by her voice; Abigail by her memory; Michal daughter of Saul by her appearance.
R. Isaac said: Whoever says, "Rahab, Rahab" will at once have a seminal emission.
R. Nahman said to him: I say Rahab, Rahab, and nothing happens to me!
He replied: I was speaking of one who knows her and was intimate with her.
The rabbis expand the topic of sexually attractive women in the Bible. Rahab was so sexually inspiring that all it took was to say her name for one to be lustful. R. Isaac says that anyone who even says her name will immediately have a seminal emission. Later, it is clarified that this is only for someone who was already intimate with her.
Yael had an
extraordinarily attractive voice. Even one who thought about Abigail would
become lustful. Finally, as far as physical appearance, Michal surpassed them
all.
It is interesting that the rabbis note so many different forms of sexual
attraction. There are those whose very names inspire desire, whereas others are
known for their voice or beauty. I think today we imagine sexual attraction as
being based mostly on appearance, but obviously there are many more factors
involved.