פירוש על מגילה 22:12

He said: Ahasuerus [said], "He certainly erred."

I will calculate, etc. the exile of Babylonia: The beginning of the exile in which Yechoniyah was exiled.

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.

He calculated: Ahasuerus [calculated] from the second [year] of Belshazzar, until his [own] third.

And inserted those eight in their place.

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.

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.

And two of Ahasuerus: Two of his years had already passed.