Study Rosh Hashanah folio 2B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
קא משמע לן דניסן ראש השנה למלכים, ויום אחד בשנה חשוב שנה. ואם לא עמד אלא באחד בניסן, אין מונין לו שנה עד שיגיע ניסן אחר. פשיטא!
teaches us that Nisan is the New Year for kings, and it also teaches us that one day in a year is considered a year; although this king ruled for only one day, a full year is counted toward his reign. The Talmud asks: Consider the next clause of the baraita: But if he ascended to the throne only on the 1st of Nisan, a year is not counted toward his reign until the next first of Nisan arrives. Isn’t this obvious?
לא צריכא, דאימנו עליה מאדר. מהו דתימא, נימנו ליה תרתין שנין, קא משמע לן.
The Talmud explains: No, it is necessary for a case where the princes agreed to appoint him as king already in the month of Adar. Lest you say that since the decision to appoint him king was made already in Adar, once the 1st of Nisan arrives they should count it the 2nd year of his reign, therefore the baraita teaches us that the count begins only from when he actually began his rule.
תנו רבנן: מת באדר ועמד אחר תחתיו באדר — מונין שנה לזה ולזה. מת בניסן ועמד אחר תחתיו בניסן — מונין שנה לזה ולזה. מת באדר ועמד אחר תחתיו בניסן — מונין ראשונה לראשון, ושניה לשני.
§ A baraita states: If the king died in the month of Adar and another king succeeded him to the throne in that same Adar, one counts the year to this one, i.e., the previous king, as his final year, and to that one, i.e., the new king who began his reign in Adar. If the first king died in the month of Nisan and another king succeeded him in that same Nisan, one counts the year to this one, the previous king, and to that one, the new king. But if the first king died in Adar and another king succeeded him in Nisan, one counts the 1st year to the first king as his final year, and the 2nd year to the second king as the 1st year of his reign.