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Purim
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==Scriptural and rabbinical sources== [[File:Esther Scroll - Google Art Project.jpg|thumbnail|Esther Scroll]] The primary source relating to the origin of Purim is the [[Book of Esther]], which became the last of the 24 books of the [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] to be canonized by the Sages of the [[Great Assembly]]. It is dated to the 4th century BCE<ref>NIV Study Bible, ''Introductions to the Books of the Bible, Esther'', Zondervan, 2002</ref> and according to the [[Talmud]] was a redaction by the Great Assembly of an original text by Mordechai.<ref>Babylonian Talmud, Tractate ''[[Bava Basra]]'' 15a.</ref> The {{transliteration|he|[[Masekhet|Tractate]] [[Megillah (Talmud)|Megillah]]}} in the [[Mishnah]] (redacted {{circa|200}} CE) records the laws relating to Purim. The accompanying [[Tosefta]] (redacted in the same period) and [[Gemara]] (in the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmud redacted {{circa|400}} CE and {{circa|600}} CE respectively)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Neusner |first1=Jacob |title=The Talmud: What It Is and What It Says |date=2006 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-0-7425-4671-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/talmudwhatitiswh0000neus |access-date=2021-02-27}}</ref> record additional contextual details such as Queen Vashti having been the daughter of [[Belshazzar]] as well as details that accord with [[Josephus]], such as Esther having been of royal descent. Brief mention of Esther is made in Tractate {{transliteration|he|[[Hullin]]}} ({{transliteration|he|Bavli Hullin}} 139b) and idolatry relating to worship of Haman is discussed in Tractate {{transliteration|he|Sanhedrin}} ({{transliteration|he|Sanhedrin}} 61b). The work [[Esther Rabbah]] is a [[Midrash]]ic text divided in two parts. The first part dated to {{circa|500}} CE provides an exegetical commentary on the first two chapters of the Hebrew Book of Esther and provided source material for the {{transliteration|he|[[Targum Sheni]]}}. The second part may have been redacted as late as the 11th century CE, and contains commentary on the remaining chapters of Esther. It, too, contains the additional contextual material found in the {{transliteration|he|[[Josippon]]}} (a chronicle of Jewish history from Adam to the age of [[Titus]] believed to have been written by Josippon or Joseph ben Gorion).<ref>Moshe David Herr, ''Encyclopedia Judaica 1997 CD-ROM Edition'', article ''Esther Rabbah'', 1997</ref>
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