Arakhin 13a — the Talmud in English

The Harim division came,

which was after it in the First Temple,

and took its portion and the portion of its colleagues—six,

as stated above.

And likewise Pashhur, and likewise Immer;

all of them were arranged according to the lot.

The prophets stipulated among them that even if

the division of

Jehoiarib,

which was

the head of the divisions

in the First Temple,

were to ascend

from the exile,

it would not displace Jedaiah from his place. Rather, Jedaiah would be primary,

and all his divisions would precede [except that five would then be made in place of six]

and Jehoiarib would be subordinate to it.

And he would serve during Jedaiah’s sixth week.

This implies that Jehoiarib did not ascend. And it is not applicable to say in the Second Temple, “the division of Jehoiarib.” And just as what is written in the beraita, and likewise in the second one, was not stated concerning the division of Jehoiarib

but concerning the rest,

so too, it is possible to say that it was not stated concerning the year after the Sabbatical year, but only concerning the other matters.

Rav Ashi said:

In fact, “and likewise in the second one” was stated also concerning the year after the Sabbatical year. And regarding what you objected—that the year of the destruction was itself a Sabbatical year—it is not difficult. For

those six

first years of the building of the Temple,

until Ezra ascended and sanctified

the Land of Israel,

he did not count

them

in the reckoning of the years. And they began counting jubilees and Sabbatical years only in the seventh year of its construction. It follows that the total number of years in which they counted jubilees and Sabbatical years in the Second Temple was only 414 years. Four hundred of them amount to eight jubilees, and another fourteen years remained, which are two Sabbatical years. It follows that the year of the destruction, which followed them, was the year after a Sabbatical year.

And from where is it known that Ezra did not ascend until after six years?

For it is written: “At that time [

then, in the first year of Cyrus ]

the work of the House of the God who is in Jerusalem was halted

until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia.” Thus, the building began in the second year of Darius,

and it is written: “And this House was completed [

finished ]

until the third day of the month of Adar, which was the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.”

And the tanna taught: At that same time in the following year, Ezra ascended, and his exile with him. For it is written: “And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was the seventh year of the king.”

Thus, there were six years between the beginning of the building and Ezra’s ascent: the building continued for five years, and only in the following year did he ascend.

And they return to explain

the body

of the beraita above:

“Israel counted seventeen jubilees from when they entered the Land until they left it.” And you cannot say that they counted from when they entered, for if you say so, it follows that the Temple was destroyed at the beginning of a jubilee, and you do not find it possible to fulfill

what is written,

“In the fourteenth year after the city was struck.”

Rather, subtract from them seven years of conquering and seven years of dividing, for they are not included in the count.

And we ask: This

seven

years—that this was the period

of conquering—from where do we derive it?

And we answer: From this,

that Caleb said: “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the Land, and so forth. And now, behold, I am eighty-five years old.” And the master said: In the first year

after their departure from Egypt,

Moses made the Tabernacle;

in the

second year the Tabernacle was erected and he sent the spies. For when Israel crossed the Jordan

and entered the Land,

how old was Caleb? He was eighty minus two. [

That is, he was 78 years old.] Three hundred and eight years after the sending of the spies, they entered. And then he was 86.

When he distributed inheritances, [

when the conquest was completed ]

he said,

Caleb,

“I am eighty-five years old.” It is found

that between their entry and the completion of the conquest there were

seven

years

in which

they

conquered.

And we ask: And this

seven

years—that this period continued

of dividing—from where do we derive it?

And we answer:

If you wish, say: Since they conquered for seven, they divided for seven 87 .

And if you wish, say: Since you cannot find it

that a jubilee occurred

“in the fourteenth year after the city was struck” [

as is demonstrated above] unless we say that they conquered for seven and divided for seven. For the 850 years from their entry until the Temple was destroyed are seventeen complete jubilees, and in order to fulfill the verse in Ezekiel it is necessary to subtract fourteen years from the count; namely, seven years of conquering and seven years of dividing.

Mishna:

They may not have fewer than six inspected lambs

free of blemish

in the Chamber of the Lambs

in the Temple, which are

the amount

of the required measure of offerings

for Shabbat and the two festival days of Rosh Hashanah

together.

And they add

to them

without limit,

for there is no upper limit.

They may not have fewer

than two trumpets

for the sounding accompanying the offerings,

and nine lyres

for the song.

And they add

to them

without limit.

And the cymbal,

one

alone

was used in the song, and no more.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: “They may not have fewer than six lambs.” And we had thought that

“for Shabbat and the two festival days”

was precise: if Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah occurred one after the other, six inspected lambs had to be prepared on Friday, since on Shabbat and a festival it is impossible to take them and inspect them for blemishes.

And we object:

The daily offerings and additional offerings

of Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah together—therefore,

there were many,

so how are only six sufficient? For besides the two daily offerings each day, there are another sixteen sheep for the additional offerings.

And we answer:

The tanna

was speaking

generally of each day. And he was speaking only of the daily offerings.

The inspected lambs are needed for them.

And what is the meaning of “for Shabbat and the two festival days,”

which he taught?

It is merely a sign,

for just as the number of daily offerings on these three days is six, so there must be that many in the chamber each day.