"Better One Hot Pepper!"

It was taught in a beraita:

Rabbi Eliezer says: [The Book of] Esther was composed with Divine inspiration, as it says: (Esther 6:6) "Haman said in his heart."

Rabbi Akiva says: [The Book of] Esther was composed with Divine inspiration, as it says: (Esther 2:15) "And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her."

Rabbi Meir says: [The Book of] Esther was composed with Divine inspiration, as it says: (Esther 2:22) "And the matter was made known to Mordechai."

​Rabbi Yossi ben Dormaskit says: [The Book of] Esther was composed with Divine inspiration, as it says: (Esther 9:10) "And they did not touch the spoils."

Shmuel said: If I had been there, I would have said something better than all of them! As it says: (Esther 9:27) "They confirmed and accepted" - they confirmed above what had been accepted below.

Rava says: Each one of these may be refuted, except for that of Shmuel, which cannot be refuted. Rabbi Eliezer's [prooftext] - it is just logical, for there was no one as important to the king as he was, and so when he spoke at length,he would express his own perspective on himself. Rabbi Akiva's [prooftext] - perhaps it is like [the opinion of] Rabbi Elazar, who said that this teaches that she appeared to each individual as if she belonged to his nation. Rabbi Meir's [prooftext] - perhaps it is like [the opinion of] Rabbi Chiya bar Abba, who said that Bigtan and Teresh were two people from Tarshish. And Rabbi Yossi ben Durmaskit's [prooftext] - perhaps messengers were sent. Shmuel's [prooftext] - there are certainly no refutations.

Ravina says: This is like the popular saying - better one hot pepper than a whole basket of gourds!