Pt1 The Origins of Tisha B’Av and the Chronology of Numbers 10-14: the Date of the Destructions of the Both Temples and the Biblical Spies Episode (Taanit 29a)

This is the first part of a two-part series. On the occasion of the upcoming commemoration of Tisha B’Av.¹

This sugya layers multiple national disasters onto 9 Av (Tisha B’Av), constructing it as a day of repeated covenantal rupture. The literary effect is cumulative: biblical verses are sequenced and interpreted to show that earlier rebellions, prophetic warnings, and foreign destructions converged historically—and theologically—on the same calendar date.

The sugya constructs a detailed chronological narrative spanning Numbers chapters 10–14, interpreting the verses as building toward the catastrophic decree on the Ninth of Av (Tisha B’Av), when the generation of the Exodus was barred from entering Eretz Yisrael. The sugya layers textual data with rabbinic commentary to trace how the fateful sin of the Twelve Spies unfolded over about four months (from spring to summer, from 1 Nisan [~March/April] to 9 Av [~July/August]) in the second year after the Exodus.

The sequence begins with the erection of the Tabernacle in the 2nd year after the Exodus, on 1 Nisan (Exodus 40:17), followed by the departure from Mount Sinai on 20 Iyyar (Numbers 10:11), and a 3-day march. Almost immediately, the people complain about the manna (Numbers 11:4), prompting a divine punishment and the provision of quail meat (שליו) for a full month (Numbers 11:20), which ends on 22 Sivan. Shortly thereafter, Miriam is quarantined for seven days with tzara'at (Numbers 12:15), until 29 Sivan. That same day, according to a baraita, Moses sends the Spies (Numbers 13:2).

The Spies return after 40 days on the night of 9 Av (Numbers 13:25), and the people cry in panic (Numbers 14:1). Rabba, citing R’ Yoḥanan, identifies that night as 9 Av. God responds by declaring it a night of weeping for generations. This rabbinic chronology intentionally leads to the 9th of Av, setting the stage for later disasters that also occurred on this date.

The piece then pivots to the destruction of both Temples. The First Temple was set ablaze on 9 Av (in 586 BCE) and burned into the 10th, as harmonized from II Kings 25 and Jeremiah 52. R’ Yoḥanan states that he would have preferred commemorating on the 10th, but the rabbis insisted the fast should mark the beginning of disaster. The Second Temple’s destruction (in 70 CE), according to tradition, also occurred on 9 Av, under identical conditions (same priestly division, post-sabbatical year), reinforcing the theological principle that calamities recur on days already marked by sin.

The Five calamities that occurred on Tisha B'Av according to the Mishnah (Taanit 4:6)

See Wikipedia, “Tisha B'Av“, section “History“, sub-section “Five calamities“:

According to the Mishnah (Taanit 4:6), five specific events occurred on the ninth of Av that warrant fasting:

1. The Twelve Spies sent by Moses to observe the land of Canaan returned from their mission. Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, brought a positive report, while the others spoke disparagingly about the land. The majority report caused the Children of Israel to cry, panic and despair of ever entering the "Promised Land". For this, they were punished by God that their generation would not enter the land. The midrash quotes God as saying about this event, "You cried before me pointlessly, I will fix for you [this day as a day of] crying for the generations", alluding to the future misfortunes which occurred on the same date.

2. The First Temple built by King Solomon was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE, and the population of the Kingdom of Judah was sent into the Babylonian exile. According to the Bible, the First Temple's destruction began on the 7th of Av (2 Kings 25:8) and continued until the 10th (Jeremiah 52:12). According to the Talmud, the actual destruction of the Temple began on the Ninth of Av, and it continued to burn throughout the Tenth of Av.

3. The Second Temple, built by Zerubbabel and renovated by Herod the Great, was destroyed by the Romans on 9 Av 70 CE, scattering the people of Judea and commencing the Jewish exile from the Holy Land.

4. The Romans subsequently crushed Bar Kokhba's revolt and destroyed the city of Betar, killing over 500,000 Jewish civilians (approximately 580,000) on 9 Av 135 CE.

5. Following the Bar Kokhba revolt, Roman commander Quintus Tineius Rufus plowed the site of the Temple in Jerusalem and the surrounding area.

Outline

Intro

1. The Five calamities that occurred on Tisha B'Av according to the Mishnah (Taanit 4:6)

The Passage - The Origins of Tisha B’Av and the Chronology of Numbers 10-14: the Date of the Destructions of the Both Temples and the Biblical Spies Episode (Taanit 29a)

Part 1: The Chronology of Numbers 10-14

1. The Tabernacle was erected on 1 Nisan - Exodus 40:17

2. The cloud lifted on 20 Iyyar - Numbers 10:11

3. The Israelites traveled for 3 days; The Israelites complained about the manna - Numbers 10:33, 11:4

4. God sent quail for a month, ending on 22 Sivan - Numbers 11:20

5. Miriam’s 7-day isolation for tzara'at ended on 29 Sivan

6. On that day, Moses sent the Twelve Spies - Numbers 12:15, 13:2

7. Rabba citing R' Yoḥanan - Numbers 13:25, 14:1 - the night of 9 Av

Appendix - Ten “Firsts” on the Day of the Tabernacle Inauguration in Exodus 40:17 - (Shabbat 87b = Seder Olam Rabbah Chapter 7)

Part 2: The Destruction of the First and Second Temples

1. The Exact Date of the Destruction of the First Temple

   1. 7 Av (II Kings 25:8–9)

   2. 10 Av (Jeremiah 52:12–13)

   3. Baraita - On 7 Av, the Babylonian forces entered the Temple’s Sanctuary, On 9 Av, toward evening, they set fire to it, It then burned through 10 Av

   4. R' Yoḥanan - “I would have designated 10 Av as the fast”

2. Calamities recur on inauspicious days

3. The First Temple was destroyed on 9 Av, during the priestly division of Jehoiariv, on Saturday night, at the end of a Sabbatical year

4. The attack began interrupted the Levites’ daily song, in middle of the verse in Psalms 94:23

Appendix - Chronology of Rulers over Eretz Yisrael during the Second Temple period (Avodah Zarah 8b-9a)

The Passage

Taanit.29a.2-13

Part 1: The Chronology of Numbers 10-14

The Talmud connects the decree that the Israelites would not enter the land of Canaan to events beginning in the second year after the Exodus. It reconstructs the chronology:

1. The Tabernacle was erected on 1 Nisan (Exodus 40:17).

2. The cloud lifted on 20 Iyyar (Numbers 10:11).

3. The Israelites traveled for 3 days (Numbers 10:33)

4. They then complained about the manna (Numbers 11:4).

5. God sent quail for a month (Numbers 11:20), ending on 22 Sivan.

6. Miriam’s 7-day isolation for tzara'at ended on 29 Sivan (Numbers 12:15).

7. On that day, Moses sent the spies (Numbers 13:2).

Visualization - Vertical Timeline of the dates and events in the sugya, Year 2 after the Exodus, 3 month period from spring to summer, from 1 Nisan (~March/April) to 9 Av (~July/August):

בתשעה באב

נגזר על אבותינו שלא יכנסו לארץ,

מנלן?

§ The Mishnah taught:

On the 9th of Av,

it was decreed upon our ancestors that they would not enter Eretz Yisrael.

The Talmud asks: From where do we derive this?

The Tabernacle was erected on 1 Nisan - Exodus 40:17

(See footnote.)²

דכתיב:

״ויהי

בחדש הראשון

בשנה השנית

באחד לחדש

הוקם המשכן״

ואמר מר:

• שנה ראשונה --

  • עשה משה את המשכן,

• שניה --

  • הקים משה את המשכן,

  • ושלח מרגלים.

As it is written:

“And it came to pass

in the 1st month [=Nisan]

in the 2nd year [from the Exodus],

on the 1st day of the month,

that the Tabernacle was erected” (Exodus 40:17).

And the Master said:

• In the 1st year after leaving Egypt,

  • Moses made (עשה) the Tabernacle (משכן)

• At the beginning of the 2nd year,

  • Moses erected (הקים) the Tabernacle

  • and sent the Twelve Spies.

The cloud lifted on 20 Iyyar - Numbers 10:11

(See footnote.)³

וכתיב:

״ויהי

בשנה השנית

בחדש השני

בעשרים בחדש

נעלה הענן מעל משכן העדת״

And it is written:

“And it came to pass

in the 2nd year [from the Exodus]

in the 2nd month [=Iyyar],

on the 20th day of the month,

that the cloud was taken up from the Tabernacle of the Testimony” (Numbers 10:11).

The Israelites traveled for 3 days; The Israelites complained about the manna - Numbers 10:33, 11:4

(See footnote).⁴

וכתיב: ״ויסעו מהר ה׳ דרך שלשת ימים״.

אמר רבי חמא בר חנינא: אותו היום סרו מאחרי ה׳.

וכתיב:

״והאספסף אשר בקרבו התאוו תאוה

וישבו ויבכו גם בני ישראל וגו׳״,

And it is further written: “And they set forward from the mount of YHWH [=Mount Sinai] 3 days’ journey” (Numbers 10:33).

R' Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: That very day, they turned away from God by displaying their anxiety about leaving Mount Sinai.

And it is written:

“And the mixed multitude (אספסף) that was among them fell a lusting,

and the children of Israel also wept on their part, and said: Would that we were given flesh to eat” (Numbers 11:4).

God sent quail for a month, ending on 22 Sivan - Numbers 11:20

וכתיב: ״עד חדש ימים וגו׳״

דהוו להו עשרין ותרתין בסיון,

And it is written that the Jews ate the meat “for an entire month” (Numbers 11:20).

If one adds to the first 20 days an additional 3 days’ journey, these are 23 days. Consequently, the subsequent month of 29 days of eating meat ended on the 22nd of Sivan.

Miriam’s 7-day isolation for tzara'at ended on 29 Sivan

(See footnote.)⁵

וכתיב: ״ותסגר מרים שבעת ימים״

דהוו להו עשרין ותשעה בסיון,

After this, the Jews traveled to Hazeroth (חצרות), where Miriam was afflicted with tzara'at, and it is written: “And Miriam was shut out of the camp for 7 days, and the people did not journey until Miriam was brought in again” (Numbers 12:15).

Including these 7 days, they remained in Hazeroth until the 29th of Sivan before traveling on to Paran,

On that day, Moses sent the Twelve Spies - Numbers 12:15, 13:2

(See footnote.)⁶

וכתיב: ״שלח לך אנשים״,

ותניא:

בעשרים ותשעה בסיון

שלח משה מרגלים,

and it is written immediately afterward: “Send you men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan” (Numbers 13:2).

And this calculation is taught in a baraita:

On the 29th of Sivan,

Moses sent the Twelve Spies.

Rabba citing R' Yoḥanan - Numbers 13:25, 14:1 - the night of 9 Av

That night, the Israelites cried in panic (Numbers 14:1), which R' Yoḥanan identifies as the night of 9 Av.⁷

God responded: “You cried a baseless cry; I will fix this night as a day of weeping for generations.”

וכתיב: ״וישבו מתור הארץ מקץ ארבעים יום״.

[...]

וכתיב:

״ותשא כל העדה ויתנו את קולם

ויבכו העם בלילה ההוא״,

אמר רבה, אמר רבי יוחנן:

אותו לילה ליל תשעה באב היה.

אמר להם הקדוש ברוך הוא:

• אתם —

  • בכיתם בכיה של חנם

• ואני —

  • קובע לכם בכיה לדורות

And it is written: “And they returned from spying out the land at the end of 40 days” (Numbers 13:25), which means that they came back on the 9th of Av.

[...]

And it is further written:

“And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried

and the people wept that night” (Numbers 14:1).

Rabba said that R' Yoḥanan said:

That night was the night of the 9th of Av.

God said to them:

• You —

  • wept needlessly that night,

• and I will therefore —

  • establish for you a true tragedy over which there will be weeping in future generations.

Appendix - Ten “Firsts” on the Day of the Tabernacle Inauguration in Exodus 40:17 - (Shabbat 87b = Seder Olam Rabbah Chapter 7)

Shabbat.87b.6⁸

תא שמע:

״ויהי בחדש הראשון, בשנה השנית, באחד לחדש, הוקם המשכן״ —

תנא:

אותו יום נטל עשר עטרות:

1. ראשון למעשה בראשית;

2. ראשון לנשיאים;

3. ראשון לכהונה;

4. ראשון לעבודה;

5. ראשון לירידת האש;

6. ראשון לאכילת קדשים;

7. ראשון לשכון שכינה;

8. ראשון לברך את ישראל;

9. ראשון לאיסור הבמות;

10. ראשון לחדשים.

Come and hear:

“And it came to pass in the 1st month [=Nisan] in the 2nd year [from the Exodus], on the 1st day of the month, that the Tabernacle was erected” (Exodus 40:17).

It was taught:

That day (1 Nisan of that year) took 10 crowns (עטרות):

1. It was the 1st day of Creation (מעשה בראשית), i.e. it was a Sunday,

2. the 1st day of the offerings brought by the princes⁹

3. the 1st day of the priesthood¹⁰

4. the 1st day of service in the Temple¹¹

5. the 1st time for the descent of fire onto the altar,

6. the 1st time that consecrated foods (קדשים) were eaten¹²

7. the 1st day of the resting of the Shekhina upon the Jewish people,

8. the 1st day that the Jewish people were blessed by the priests,

9. and the 1st day of the prohibition to bring offerings on improvised altars¹³

10. And it was the 1st of the months [=Nisan]

1. For a later part of this sugya, see these previous pieces of mine:

• “The Man with the Nose is Wanted”: The Talmudic Story of Tineius Rufus and Rabban Gamliel (Taanit 29a)

• Historical Puzzles and Possible Interpretations of the Encounter Between 'Turnus Rufus' and 'Rabban Gamliel' in the Talmud (Taanit 29a)

See also the well-known extended sugya in Gittin 55b and on, which collects Talmudic stories about the destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE) and the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132 CE). I’ve outlined that sugya, and quoted its opening and the first story, in my “Talmudic Stories Relating to the Destruction of the Second Temple (Gittin 55b-56a)”.

2. Compare the baraita cited Shabbat.87b.6 (paralleled in—or sourced from—Seder_Olam_Rabbah.7, see there at length), on this same verse, which I cite in the appendix at the end of this piece: “Appendix - Ten “Firsts” on the day that the Tabernacle was erected in Exodus 40:17 - (Shabbat 87b = Seder Olam Rabbah Chapter 7)”.

As an aside, that sugya in general—similar to here—is heavily focused on the biblical chronology of the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai (which occured in the month of Sivan in the first year after the Exodus, so a year before the events discussed in the main piece, see my next footnote). I discuss part of that sugya in my “The Giving of the Torah in Exodus 19: Timing, Preparation, and Moses' Bold Decisions (Shabbat 86b-87a)“.

3. Compare Seder Olam, Chapter 8 (Seder_Olam_Rabbah.8) on the Departure From Sinai (Numbers 10 – 11):

ויהי בשנה השנית, בחדש השני, בעשרים בחדש נעלה הענן (שם י יא),

נמצאו:

עושין במדבר סיני י"ב חדש חסר עשרה ימים,

"And it came to pass in the 2nd year, in the 2nd month, on the 20th day of the month, that the cloud was taken up..." (Numbers 10:11).

It follows that

they dwelled in the Wilderness of Sinai [for] 12 months less 10 days.

4. Compare Seder Olam, Chapter 8, re Kibroth-Hattaavah (Numbers 11):

נסעו ממדבר סיני

ובאו להם לקברות התאוה,

ועשו שם שלשים יום,

שנאמר לא יום אחד תאכלון וגו',

עד חדש ימים וגו' (שם יא),

They went out from the wilderness of Sinai

and came to Kibroth Ha-taavah,

and dwelled there 30 days,

as it is written "And YHWH said unto Moses, Behold..." (Numbers 11:19-20).

5. Compare Seder Olam, Chapter 8, re Hazeroth and Miriam’s Quarantine (Numbers 12):

נסעו מקברות התאוה

ובאו לחצרות,

ועשו שם שבעה ימים,

שנאמר ותסגר מרים וגו' שבעת ימים (שם יב טו),

They journeyed from Kibroth Hattaavah

and came to Hazeroth,

and dwelled there 7 days,

as it is written "And Miriam was shut up..." (Numbers 12:15).

On this story, see Hebrew Wikipedia, “צרעת מרים“.

6. Compare Seder Olam, Chapter 8, re the Spies (Numbers 13 – 14):

נסעו מחצרות

ובאו להן למדבר פארן בכ"ח בסיון,

ובכ"ט בסיון שלח משה מרגלים,

שנאמר: והימים ימי בכורי ענבים (שם יג כ),

They went out from Hazeroth

and came to the Wilderness of Paran on the 28th of Sivan,

on the 29th of Sivan, Moses sent out the spies,

as it is written "And the time was..." (Numbers 13:20).

7. Compare Seder Olam, Chapter 8, re the Spies And The Ninth Of Av (Numbers 13 – 14):

וישבו מתור הארץ מקץ ארבעים יום (שם יג כה),

ותשעה באב היה,

שתמצא אומר:

בתשעה באב —

נגזר על אבותינו שלא יכנסו לארץ,

"And they returned from searching...40 days" (Numbers 13:25),

that was the 9th of Av.

So it turns out saying:

On the 9th of Av —

it was decreed that they would not enter the Land.

8. Paralleled in—or sourced from—Seder_Olam_Rabbah.7.

9. נשיאים - on this, see Hebrew Wikipedia, “שבעת ימי המילואים“.

10. כהונה - see Hebrew Wikipedia, ibid., section “הכנת אהרן ובניו“.

11. עבודה - see Hebrew Wikipedia, ibid., section “שלבי ההקדשה“.

12. See Hebrew Wikipedia, ibid., section “שלבי ההקדשה“, sub-section #7:

“ הזאת הדם ושמן המשחה על אהרון ובניו ובגדיהם ואכילת הקורבנות“

13. במות - “High place“.

Once the Tabernacle was erected, it was prohibited to offer sacrifices elsewhere, see these Hebrew Wikipedia entries:

• “שחוטי חוץ“

• “ריכוז הפולחן“

And see the six stages of the sacrificial history of altars, from Pre-Tabernacle to Jerusalem, in Mishnah_Zevachim.14.4-8. That Mishnah section starts with the following two stages:

1. עד שלא הוקם המשכן --

   1. היו הבמות מתרות,

   2. ועבודה בבכורות.

2. משהוקם המשכן --

   1. נאסרו הבמות,

   2. ועבודה בכהנים

   3. קדשי קדשים -- נאכלים לפנים מן הקלעים

   4. קדשים קלים -- בכל מחנה ישראל

1. Until the Tabernacle was established —

   1. private altars (במות) were permitted

   2. and the sacrificial service was performed by the firstborn (בכורות)

2. And from the time that the Tabernacle was established —

   1. private altars were prohibited

   2. and the sacrificial service was performed by the priests.

   3. Offerings of the most sacred order (קדשי קדשים) — were then eaten within the curtains (קלעים) surrounding the courtyard of the Tabernacle in the wilderness

   4. and offerings of lesser sanctity (קדשים קלים) — were eaten throughout the “camp of Israel” (מחנה ישראל)