וּמִן־הָעִ֡יר לָקַח֩ סָרִ֨יס אֶחָ֜ד אֲֽשֶׁר־ה֥וּא פָקִ֣יד ׀ עַל־אַנְשֵׁ֣י הַמִּלְחָמָ֗ה וַחֲמִשָּׁ֨ה אֲנָשִׁ֜ים מֵרֹאֵ֤י פְנֵֽי־הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִמְצְא֣וּ בָעִ֔יר וְאֵ֗ת הַסֹּפֵר֙ שַׂ֣ר הַצָּבָ֔א הַמַּצְבִּ֖א אֶת־עַ֣ם הָאָ֑רֶץ וְשִׁשִּׁ֥ים אִישׁ֙ מֵעַ֣ם הָאָ֔רֶץ הַֽנִּמְצְאִ֖ים בָּעִֽיר׃
Dari kota itu ia juga menangkap seorang sida-sida yang mengepalai para prajurit, lima orang dari antara mereka yang biasa menghadap raja, yang masih didapati di kota itu, juru tulis panglima tentara yang mengerahkan rakyat negeri itu ke dalam pasukan, dan enam puluh orang dari rakyat negeri itu yang didapati di kota itu.
Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin
Rebbi Joshua ben Levi understood everything from the following: The chief executioner took … the three guards of the threshhold113Jer. 52:24., from here that one starts with three. And five men from the king’s entourage1142K. 25:19., from here that one continues with five. And seven men from the King’s entourage115Jer. 52:25., from here that one finishes with seven116Cf. Babli 10b. According to Rashi ad loc., the verses describe the members of king Sedekia’s court and therefore are appropriate to the determination of the calendar which is a governmental exercise..
Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin
Rebbi Jonathan said, from there the great Synhedrion of all of Israel. The minister of the executioners took Seraiah the Chief Priest and Zephania the priest113Jer. 52:24., these are two. And seven men from the king’s entourage115Jer. 52:25., this makes nine. And sixty men from the People of the Land1172K. 25:19, Jer. 52:25., this makes seventy minus one. And from the city one eunuch115Jer. 52:25., this makes seventy. There are Tannaïm who state seventy-one: The chief executioner took … the three guards of the threshhold, and seven men from the king’s entourage, and sixty men from the People of the Land, and from the city he took one eunuch, this makes seventy-one. And why is he called a eunuch? Because he transposes practice118In rabbinic Hebrew, סרס “to castrate” is also used in the sense of “to transpose words or letters”. While in the verse he is described as minister of defense, he is taken here as president of the court who can transpose precedents to apply to other cases. Cf. Tosafot Megillah 21b, s. v. כנגד..
Megillah
What do these three, five and seven represent? This was a dispute between R. Isaac b. Nahmani and one who was with him, and who was he, R. Shimon b. Pazzi, or, according to others, by R. Shimon b. Pazzi and one who was with him, and who was with him, R. Isaac b. Nahmani, or according to others, R. Shmuel b. Nahmani. One said that [these represent] the [number of Hebrew words in the three verses of the] priestly blessings, while the other said "the three keepers of the door" (II Kings 25:18); [the five represent] "five of them that saw the king's face" (II Kings 25:19) [and the seven] "seven men of them that saw the king's face" (Esther 1:14).