Rabbi Abbahu, a sage from the Talmudic period, tackles this very question in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating text filled with stories and interpretations that shed light on biblical narratives. He states quite definitively that Nebuchadnezzar reigned for forty-five years. But how do we arrive at that number?
Let's break it down. According to Rabbi Abbahu, in the very year Nebuchadnezzar began his reign, he marched on Jerusalem and conquered Jehoiakim, the king of Judah. We see this referenced in the Book of Daniel (1:1): "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem, and besieged it."
Now, Nebuchadnezzar ruled over the kingdom of Jehoiakim for eight years, followed by eleven years under Zedekiah. That’s a total of nineteen years before the destruction of the Temple. Then, Rabbi Abbahu says, Nebuchadnezzar continued to rule for another twenty-six years after the destruction. Add nineteen and twenty-six, and you get… forty-five!
But wait, there’s more. Rabbi Abbahu provides another line of reasoning to support this forty-five-year figure. He asks us to consider the exile of Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim's son, until the reign of Evil-Merodach (also known as Awil-Marduk), Nebuchadnezzar's son. Second Kings (25:27) tells us: "And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, out of prison.” Thirty-seven years had passed from Jehoiachin's exile to the start of Evil-Merodach's reign.
So, where does that fit in? Well, if we consider that Evil-Merodach came to power after Nebuchadnezzar's forty-five-year reign, the math seems to hold up. It's like Rabbi Abbahu is giving us multiple angles to confirm the length of Nebuchadnezzar's rule and its connection to key events in Jewish history.
What's fascinating here isn't just the historical calculation, but the way our sages sought to understand and connect the dots between different biblical accounts. They weren’t just interested in what happened, but when it happened, and how it all fit together in the grand scheme of Jewish history. It reminds us that even seemingly dry historical details can hold profound meaning when viewed through the lens of tradition and interpretation.