[Avodah] How long did Nevuchadnetzar reign?

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Akiva Blum suggested:

> Perhaps it's because kings reigns can overlap, but years of exile
> don't necessarily overlap. Therefore, the the first year of Evil
> Merodach can be the same year as the last of Nevuchadnetzar,
> because  Evil Merodach will count the first part of his reign as
> a whole year. However, the posuk won't count a year of exile for
> Yehoyochin until a full year has elapsed.

I think that what he is saying is this:

Yehoyachin's exile began during the eighth year of Nevuchadnetzar, and the first year was completed during the 9th year of Nevuchadnetzar's reign.

The 2nd year of Y's exile was completed during the 10th year of N.
The 3nd year of Y's exile was completed during the 11th year of N.
The 4th year of Y's exile was completed during the 12th year of N.
[add about 30 years here]
The 34th year of Y's exile was completed during the 42nd year of N.
The 35th year of Y's exile was completed during the 43rd year of N.
The 36th year of Y's exile was completed during the 44th year of N.

The 37th year of Y's exile would have been completed during the 45th year of Nevuchadnetzar's reign, but as it turned out, Evil Merodach succeeded Nevuchadnetzar just before the end of that 37th year; specifically in the 12th month, on the 25th of the month.

Thus, it was during N's 45th year that Evil Merodach succeeded him, and so according to their way of counting, it can be said that he reigned for 45 years.

I checked my notes, and my chavrusa and I did consider this possibility. But consider this: When Achashverosh made his calculation of when the 70 years would end, he dropped the first eight years of Nevuchadnetzar's 45-year reign, and looked only at the last 37. But since Yehoyachin got exiled DURING Nevuchadnetzar's 8th year, and he figured that the 70 years began with Yehoyachin's exile, then he should have counted the remained of that 8th year towards the 70 years. Thus, he should have deducted only seven years, and the remainder of Nevuchadnetzar's reign should have counted as the first 38 according to Achashverosh.

A possible answer could be that Achashverosh's advisors couldn't (or wouldn't) correct his arithmetic, but my chavrusa and I are hoping for something better.

Akiva Miller

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