גלו בשבע לכיבוש יהויקים גלות יהויכין שהיא שמונה לנבוכדנצר גלו בשמונה עשרה לכיבוש יהויקים גלות צדקיהו שהיא תשע עשרה לנבוכדנצר דאמר מר שנה ראשונה כיבש נינוה שניה כיבש יהויקים וכתיב (ירמיהו נב, לא) ויהי בשלשים ושבע שנה לגלות יהויכין מלך יהודה בשנים עשר חדש בעשרים וחמשה לחדש נשא אויל מרודך מלך בבל [בשנת מלכותו] את ראש יהויכין מלך יהודה ויוצא אותו מבית הכלא
[That is to say], in the seventh year after the subjection of Jehoiakim they underwent the exile of Jechoniah, this being the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar. In the eighteenth year from the subjection of Jehoiakim they underwent the exile of Zedekiah, this being the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, as a Master has said, In the first year [of his reign] he [Nebuchadnezzar] overthrew Nineveh; in the second year he conquered Jehoiakim. And it is written, “And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month in the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Avil-Merodach King of Babylon, in the year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him forth out of prison” (Jeremiah 52:31). Eight and thirty-seven make forty-five of Nebuchadnezzar.
Rashi on Megillah
As the Master said, "The first year, he conquered Nineveh": As it was the capital of the kingdom of Assyria, for the king was in Nineveh.
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Rashi on Megillah
In his second, he conquered Yehoyakim: The verses are expounded in Seder Olam: It is written at the beginning of the book of Daniel (1:1-2), "In the third year of the reign of Yehoyakim [...], Nebuchadnezzar [...] came to Jerusalem [...]. And the Lord delivered King Yehoyakim into his hand." Is it possible to say this? And is it not that he did not reign until the fourth year of Yehoyakim? As it is stated in the book of Jeremiah (45) [that] the thing that happened in the fourth year of Yehoyakim, was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar! Rather what do we learn to say - "In the third year of the reign of Yehoyakim?" It was in the third year of his rebellion. After he conquered him, he served him three years and [then] rebelled against him. As it is stated (II Kings 24:1), "and [Yehoyakim] became his servant for three years, and then he turned and rebelled against him." And it teaches you here that he held up in his rebellion three years. Behold, it is six years from his being conquered; and this time he was given into his hand and he killed him, such that, "He shall have the burial of a donkey" (Jeremiah 22:19) was fulfilled. And Nebuchadnezzar crowned Yehoyachin, his son, in his place and came [back] to Babylonia. His advisers said to him, "The father rebelled against you, and you crowned his son? They say a parable - a good puppy does not come from a bad dog." So he recanted at the end of the year and exiled him; and crowned Tzidkiyahu. (Vayikra Rabbah 19, Metzora) And likewise is it written in the book of Kings at its end. It comes out that the exile of Yehoyachin was in the seventh year of the conquering of Yehoyakim. Yet behold the verse calls it the eighth year! It was the eighth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. [As] at the end of the book of Kings we learned that he conquered him in the second year of his reign.
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Rashi on Megillah
Evil-merodach, king of Babylonia, lifted up, etc.: We learned that Evil-merodach [began to] reign in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Yehoyachin; and Nebuchadnezzar had already reigned eight years before the exile of Yehoyachin. Eight and thirty-seven is forty-five; and the twenty-three of Evil-merodach; and the two of Belshazzar.
