Who knows two hundred six?
Please cite/link your sources, if possible. At some point at least twenty-four hours from now, I will:
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asked Mar 13 '11 at 18:40
The Chashmonaim began their rule 206 years before the destruction of the second Beis Hamikdash. (The Gemara, Avodah Zarah 9a, gives these figures: 103 years of Chashmonai rulers, followed by 103 years of the Herodian dynasty.)
Interesting, too, that Rambam (Hil. Chanukah 3:1), in summarizing the positive results of the Maccabean revolt, characterizes this as a period when "kingship returned to the Jewish People." Which perhaps indicates that (a) he doesn't agree with Ramban (commentary to Gen. 49:10) that the Chashmonaim assuming the kingship was a bad thing, and (b) he also doesn't see Herod and his successors as so bad either.
According to Sefer Hayashar, the Pharaoh of the Exodus (whom it calls Adikam) ascended the throne four years before the Exodus, or 206 years after the Jewish People came down to Egypt.
