Megillah 11b

מגילה י״א ע״ב

Learn Megillah 11b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Which kings ruled the whole world, and how בלשצר and אחשורוש miscounted the seventy years of exile before the feast in the מגילה.

Overview

On the previous amud, the גמרא said that three kings ruled the whole world, including אחשורוש. Here it tests that list against four more kings: שלמה, סנחריב, דריוש and כורש. Each is rejected. שלמה lost his throne for a time, or else his rule was greater than world rule. סנחריב never took ירושלים, דריוש ruled only 120 provinces, and כורש was just boasting. Then the גמרא turns to the next פסוק in the מגילה, which seems to place the feast both at the start of אחשורוש's reign and in his third year. רבא explains that 'כשבת' means once his mind was settled, after he counted the seventy years of ירמיה's prophecy and believed they had passed. The גמרא shows how בלשצר miscounted, used the vessels of the בית המקדש and was killed. It then shows how אחשורוש made his own count, made the same mistake, and was punished when ושתי was killed. It ends by showing that the correct count runs from the destruction of ירושלים. Because the years were partial years, the seventy years ended only in the second year of דריוש.

Opening lines

The steps (32)

1. ChallengeMemory aid, then the question: what about שלמה?
2. Resolutionשלמה's kingship was not complete
3. ChallengeThat answer fails for the view that שלמה became king again
4. Resolutionשלמה ruled even over the upper worlds
5. ChallengeWhat about סנחריב?
6. Resolutionסנחריב never conquered ירושלים
7. ChallengeWhat about דריוש?
8. Resolutionדריוש ruled only 120 provinces
9. ChallengeWhat about כורש, who said he got all the kingdoms?
10. Resolutionכורש was just boasting
11. ChallengeWas the feast in the king's first year or his third?
12. Resolutionרבא: 'sat' means after his mind was settled
13. ResponseWhat was the calculation? The seventy-year prophecy
14. ResponseBelshazzar's count and his use of the Temple vessels
15. QuestionHow do we know נבוכדנצר reigned forty-five years?
16. ResponseTwo exiles, each given two dates
17. ResponseMatching the exile years to נבוכדנצר's reign
18. ProofWhy the two counts are one year apart
19. ProofThe פסוק about אויל מרודך freeing יהויכין
20. Conclusion8 plus 37 equals 45 years
21. ConclusionCompleting בלשצר's seventy and his reaction
22. Proofדניאל's rebuke and בלשצר's death
23. Statementדריוש takes over the kingdom
24. Statementאחשורוש claims he will count correctly
25. StatementSeventy years for the exile, not the kingdom
26. ResponseMaking up the missing eight years
27. Conclusionאחשורוש also uses the vessels
28. ConclusionThe punishment: ושתי is killed
29. ChallengeBut he counted correctly
30. ResolutionHe should have counted from the destruction of ירושלים
31. ChallengeThen the בית המקדש should have been built in his fourteenth year
32. Resolutionרבא: the years were partial years