וימצא כתוב אשר הגיד מרדכי על בגתנא ותרש
“There it was found written that Mordecai had denounced Bigsana and Seresh.” (Esther 6:2)
When Achashveirosh’s sleep was disturbed, he ordered his servants to read him his book of chronicles, where he found recorded that Mordechai had saved him from Bigsana and Seresh’s plan to kill him, which led him to discover that Mordechai had never been properly rewarded for his actions. Earlier, the Megillah says (2:21) that Mordechai saved Achashveirosh from the assassination plot of Bigsan and Seresh. Why was Bigsan’s name changed to Bigsana?
The Medrash Talpios explains that Achashveirosh’s scribe was one of Haman’s sons, who did not want Mordechai to be compensated for what he did. Therefore, when he recorded the episode in the royal chronicles, he wrote that Mordechai discovered that: בגתן או תרש – “Bigsan or Seresh were plotting to kill Achashveirosh”. In other words, one of them wanted to assassinate the king, but because it was not clear which one, there was no choice but to kill both to protect the king. According to this version of events, Mordechai did not deserve substantial remuneration for his efforts, because at the same time he saved Achashveirosh, he was also indirectly responsible for the death of an innocent man.
To ensure that Mordechai received the honor to which he was justly entitled, Hashem split the word או by attaching the letter א to the end of Bigsan’s name and the ו to the beginning of תרש’s name. As a result, the royal book of records now stated that Mordechai saved the king from בגתנא ותרש. The Megillah alludes to this transformation when it says: וימצא כתוב - “and they found that it was written” – hinting that this was not the text that was originally written but was miraculously changed at this time.
