As early critics pointed out, the "Mordechai" was not issued in its final form by the Mordechai. He collected the material, but the work was in fact arranged and published by his pupils, partly during his lifetime and partly after his death. Thus within two generations after Mordechai's death there were two entirely different versions of his work, respectively designated as the "Rhenish" and the "Austrian" versions. These two versions are also respectively known as the "Short Mordechai" (מרדכי הקצר "Mordekhai haKetzar") and "Long Mordechai" (מרדכי הארוך "Mordekhai ha'Arokh"), due to their varying length. These are not merely two different copies of the "Mordechai", but are in fact two materially different compendiums. It is thought that the Austrian "Mordechai", as found in the manuscripts, is the original form of the work. The version published in the Talmud is the Rhenish with glosses from the Austrian Mordechai, by Rabbi Samuel ben Aaron of Schlettstadt.