Which Year Was the Second Temple Destroyed, 69 CE or 70 CE?

Question:

In some articles on your site it says the Second Temple was destroyed in 69 CE, and in others it says 70 CE. So what year was it?

Answer:

There are actually three different years found in Jewish sources for the destruction of the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem:

• 3828 / 68 CE
• 3829 / 69 CE
• 3830 / 70 CE

This discrepancy is based on a number of factors:1

How long is 420 years?

The Talmud2 states that the Second Temple stood for 420 years.

But the sages debate whether this means that the Temple was destroyed in its 420th year, or after it was standing for a full 420 years. The Temple was destroyed on the ninth of Av, which is toward the end of the Jewish calendar year, so 420 years could mean almost 420 years, or it could mean 420 years and 10 months.3

Rashi, in his commentary to the Talmud, tractate Avodah Zarah,4 and Maimonides5 are of the opinion that it was destroyed in the 420th year. However, most other Jewish sages6 are of the opinion that it was destroyed in the 421st year. In fact, Rashi appears to reverse himself, and cites this opinion in his commentary to Talmud, tractate Erchin.7

According to these opinions, the year of the Destruction was either 3828 (68 CE) or 3829 (69 CE), depending on how you interpret 420 years.

But it’s not that simple . . .

The Talmud also gives us another clue about the year of the Destruction: The Temple was destroyed in the year following a shemittah year (the seventh year in the seven-year agricultural cycle, when the land is left to lie fallow).8

Seemingly this gives us a simple way to calculate the year of the Destruction. We will take the last shemittah year and count back until we hit the proper year. The last shemittah was 57689 (2008). Counting backwards in increments of seven (5768/2008 - (277 * 7)), we get the number 3829—69 CE. If the year of the Destruction was the year after a shemittah year, that would mean the Temple was destroyed in 3830—70 CE. But that does not accord with either of the opinions mentioned above!

What gives?

To understand this, we need to go back to the beginning of creation. The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is celebrated on the day Adam was created, which was really the 6th day of creation. Creation itself began on the 25th day of the month of Elul.

This raises the question: Was the first New Year considered the beginning of year one, or was it year two, with year one being shenat tohu, the “year of desolation”? In other words, do we count the years from the creation of man, or do we count from the creation of the world? Although it was merely six days earlier, the Talmud10 tells us that for counting purposes, even one day is considered a year.

The sages of the “East”—i.e., the Babylonian Talmud, the Seder Olam and their commentators—count from when Adam was created. The sages of the “West”—i.e. the Jerusalem Talmud—begin counting from the creation of the world.

We can now understand the discrepancy about the year of shemittah, and also why the year 70 CE is commonly given as the year the Temple was destroyed. For although the sages of the Babylonian Talmud counted from the year Adam was created, common practice11 has become to count from the year the world was created, counting the “year of desolation” as year 1.

This means that to all years given in the Babylonian Talmud and its commentaries, we must add one. Accordingly, the year of the Destruction would be 3830 (70 CE). Now the shemittah years work well: 3829 + (277 * 7) = 5768 (2008), coinciding with common practice.

Maimonides, on the other hand, is of the opinion that since the shemittah year is counted from the month of Tishrei and the Destruction occurred toward the end of the year, the Talmud considers the Temple to have been destroyed after a shemittah year, even though it was actually destroyed in such a year. According to him, the year of the Destruction, counting from the year of the creation of the world, would be 3829 (69 CE) and not 3830, but the shemittah years would still match up.12

Based on the above, we can now understand why the year of the destruction of the Temple is variously given as 3828 (68 CE), 3829 (69 CE) and 3830 (70 CE).

May we merit the rebuilding of the Holy Temple speedily in our days.

Year of Destruction