Errors & Anachronisms in the Talmud: Dating Darius

Recently, I have been listening to the OU's Nach Yomi. This is an audio series put forth by the Orthodox Union, where each day, a rabbi gives a summary and commentary on one chapter from the Prophets or the Writings.

Seder Olam Rabbah is a rabbinic midrash which the Talmud quotes repeatedly. The Talmud and rabbinic tradition after it treat this book as the authoritative timeline of the history of the world. You can find Seder Olam Rabbah translated to English freely available online, such as here.

So here is the interesting 5 minute segment where this Orthodox Rabbi admits an error in the rabbinic chronology.

Here is the audio file

Haggai begins with "In the second year of Darius the king," which Seder Olam Rabbah interprets as Darius, the son of Xerxes. BibArch gives us a pretty good timeline of the Persian rulers during this time.

According to history, the successor of Cyrus close enough to implement his reforms was Darius I Hystapses. Seder Olam rabbah places Darius as the son of Xerxes as the Darius who ruled when the temple was built. Here is the relevant section of Seder Olam.

(Ezra 1:1-3) “In year one of Cyrus, king of Persia, when the word of the Eternal through Jeremiah was fulfilled, did the Eternal enlighten the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia. He had a public announcement made in all his kingdom and also by letter, as follows: “So says Cyrus, king of Persia: All kingdoms of the earth the Eternal gave to me, the God of Heaven, and he ordered me to build for Him a Temple in Jerusalem that is in Judah. Anyone among you from all his people, may his God be with him and may he return to Jerusalem in Judah.” (Ezra 1:5) “The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and Levites, supported everybody whose spirit was enlightened by God to return and build the Temple of the Eternal in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 2:64-65) “All the community together, 42,360. In addition, their male and female slaves, 7,337 …” These numbers are the totals; the sum of the details is only 29,450. Where are the missing 12,360? These are the returnees from the other tribes. (Ezra 3:3) “They prepared the altar on its foundation while they were afraid of the Gentiles …” (Ezra 3:7) “They gave money to the stone masons and metal workers, food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians to deliver to them cedars to the harbor at Jaffa, following the permit issued to them by Cyrus, king of Persia.” Cyrus ruled incomplete three years. (Ezra 4:6) “In the reign of Ahasuerus, at the start of his reign, they wrote accusations against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.” (Ezra 4:24) “In the meantime, the work at the Temple in Jerusalem stopped and was idle until year two of Darius, king of Persia.”

(Esther 1:3) in the year 3 of his (Ahasuerus’s) reign he made a feast …” For four years, Esther was hidden in the fortress Susa. (Esther 2:16) “Esther was taken to the king, to his palace, in the tenth month, that is Tevet, in the seventh year of his reign.” For five years, Haman amassed riches for Mordecai. (Esther 3:7) “In the first month, that is Nisan, in the year 12 of king Ahasuerus, they threw the lot before Haman …” On the 13th of Nisan did Haman write letters (Esther 3:13) “to destroy and kill all Jews …” On the 15th of Nisan did Esther appear before the king. On the 16th of Nisan was Haman hanged. On the 23rd of Nisan did Mordecai write to countermand the missives of Haman. On the 13th of Adar (Esther 9:5) “did the Jews slay all their enemies,” (Esther 9:12) “and in the fortress Susa the Jews slew 500 men” and they hanged the ten Sons of Haman who had written incitements against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. (Esther 9:11) “On that day, the king was informed of the number of the slain.” About the same time the next year it is said (Esther 9:29) “Queen Esther and the Jew Mordecai wrote…”

Lo, it says (Jer. 29:10): “When Babylon will have filled 70 years I shall remember you and fulfill My good word to return you to this place”; (Dan. 9:2) “I checked the books for the number of years, about which the word of the Eternal was to the prophet Jeremiah, that 70 years were fulfilled since the destruction of Jerusalem.” Israel was 52 years in the kingdom of the Chaldeans, then they were remembered and returned, three years in the reign of Cyrus, 14 of Ahasuerus, and in the second year of Darius the Temple was built. And so says Zachariah (Zach. 1:12): “The angel of the Eternal declaimed and said: O Eternal of Hosts, until when will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, about which You are angry now these 70 years.” The Temple was built for four years as it is said (Ezra 6:15): “This temple was finished at the third of Adar in the year six of the reign of Darius.” At the same time the next year did Ezra come up from Babylon and other deportees with him as it is said (Ezra 7:6-10): “He is Ezra, who came from Babylon, a scribe quick in the Torah of Moses that the Eternal, the God of Israel had given… There came from the Israelites and from the priests, Levites (singers, doorkeepers), and temple servants to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of king Artaxerxes. He arrived at Jerusalem in the fifth month of the king’s seventh year. Really, of the first of the first month was the begining of the voyage from Babylon, and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem since the hand of the Eternal was good over him. Because Ezra had concentrated on studying the Torah of the Eternal, to do and to teach laws and judicial rules in Israel.” He came to separate Israel from the foreign wives.

Seder Olam confuses the two Dariuses, giving us a Darius far too late in history to match the timeline given to us by Persian records and archaeology. I am not surprised to find such an error, but I am surprised that an Orthodox Rabbi working for the OU would admit that his holy and authoritative rabbinic tradition would make such a glaring mistake.