תּלמוד אויף אסתר 1:14

If they intended to appoint Elders, from where do they appoint? From Tiberias or from the South³²⁴The main Academy was at Tiberias in Galilee. There were minor centers of learning in the South, at Lydda and at Kefar Darom, in the plain which in Second Temple times was part of Judea. The question was which center of learning should be the first to propose candidates for ordination by the Patriarch.? Rebbi Simon said, Jehudah shall go first³²⁵Jud. 1:2. R. Simon came from the South.. Rebbi Mana said to him, this refers to war. But for ordination, those who see the face of the king, sitting first in government³²⁶Esther 1:14. The preeminent rabbis at this time were in Tiberias..

with good reason, since it is written, “Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed” (Jeremiah 48:11). Straightway [he did so, as we read], and the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish [etc.].

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).