אמר איהו מיטעא טעי אנא חשיבנא ולא טעינא מי כתיב למלכות בבל לבבל כתיב מאי לבבל לגלות בבל כמה בצירן תמני חשיב ועייל חילופייהו חדא דבלשצר וחמש דדריוש וכורש ותרתי דידיה הא שבעין כיון דחזי דמלו שבעין ולא איפרוק אמר השתא ודאי תו לא מיפרקי אפיק מאני דבי מקדשא ואשתמש בהו בא שטן וריקד ביניהן והרג את ושתי
[Ahashverosh] said: He made a mistake. I will calculate and will not make a mistake. Is it written 'for the kingdom of Babylon'? [No,] it is [simply] written 'for Babylon'. What does 'for Babylon' mean? 'For the exile of Babylon'. How many [years] must be cut? Eight. He calculated, and he put in their place one of Belshazar, five of Darius and Cyrus, and two of his own. That is seventy. Now that he saw that seventy had been fulfilled and they were not redeemed, he said: Now they will certainly not be redeemed. He brought out the vessels of the Holy Temple and he used them. Satan came and danced with them. Then he killed Vashti.
Rashi on Megillah
He said: Ahasuerus [said], "He certainly erred."
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Rashi on Megillah
I will calculate, etc. the exile of Babylonia: The beginning of the exile in which Yechoniyah was exiled.
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Rashi on Megillah
How many are lacking of the seventy, from the second year of Belshazzar? Eight - those eight years that Nebuchadnezzar reigned before he exiled Yechoniyah. As Belshazzar should not have counted them, but he did count them.
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Rashi on Megillah
He calculated: Ahasuerus [calculated] from the second [year] of Belshazzar, until his [own] third.
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Rashi on Megillah
And inserted those eight in their place.
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Rashi on Megillah
One of Belshazzar: For behold, the seventy years were finished from the second year, according to his count. So he went back and counted the third.
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Rashi on Megillah
And five of Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian: As it is written (Daniel 6:1), "And Darius the Mede received the kingdom." And after him, Cyrus the First reigned. For he gave permission to the exiles to ascend [back to Israel], as it is stated (Ezra 1:2), "Thus said Cyrus, etc." And it would come up in your mind now that, between the two of them, they had reigned for five years - even though it is not written in Scripture.
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Rashi on Megillah
And two of Ahasuerus: Two of his years had already passed.
