Ezra 2:1 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

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A List of the Exiles who Returned under Zerubbabel. See the Greek Ezra (1 Esdras) Esther 5:7-45 and Nehemiah 7:6-73 a, where this list also occurs, though with some variations.

Ezra 2:1-2 a. province: Heb. medinah, equivalent to the Persian satrapy. It refers here to the tract of country, with Jerusalem as its centre (cf. Ezra 5:8; Nehemiah 1:3; Nehemiah 11:3), over which Zerubbabel was governor, the province of Judah. Zerubbabel: seed of Babel; according to 1 Chronicles 3:16-19 the grandson of Jehoiakim; he was thus of royal blood, but though chosen as leader of the returned exiles the idea of re-establishing the monarchy does not find expression. Jeshua: = Joshua (cf. Haggai 1:1; Zechariah 3:1, etc.), grandson of Seraiah the high priest (2 Kings 25:18), and son of Jehozadak (1 Chronicles 3:2; 1 Chronicles 6:14). In this list he is not yet spoken of as high priest. Nehemiah: not, of course, the Nehemiah who rebuilt the walls of the city nearly a century later.

Ezra 2:2 b - Ezra 2:35. The list of the men of Israel who returned; it includes the names of clans and cities as well as personal names, though it is not possible to determine in every case whether a name is that of a city or an individual.

Ezra 2:36-39. The families of the priests; these coincide with the corresponding lists given in Neh. and the Greek Ezra.

Ezra 2:38. Pashhur: cf. Jeremiah 20:1 ff., where it is told how Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks.

Ezra 2:39. Harim: in Ezra 2:32 this name occurs among those of the men of Israel, i.e. the laymen; it means consecrated, and would thus be more appropriate for a priest.

Ezra 2:40-42. The families of the Levites; these include the Levites proper, the singers, and the porters. For the Levites, cf. Nehemiah 10:9; 1 Chronicles 24:20-31; for the singers 1 Chronicles 25:1-7; 1 Chronicles 25:9-31; and for the porters (better door-keepers), 1 Chronicles 26:1-19. The very small number of the Levites is surprising; cf. Ezra 8:15 ff., where the number, although small, is much greater than here; it is probable that the list given here is fragmentary. It is also noteworthy that the priests and Levites are reckoned as distinct classes; by the end of the pre-exilic period all Levites were priests although they might be differentiated (see Ezekiel 48:11 ff.); but now a Levite was not necessarily a priest. A partial explanation, at any rate, of this is to be found in Nehemiah 13:10, according to which the Levites gave up their calling because there was nothing for them to live on; but the tendency for them to enter a purely secular life must have arisen during the Exile.

Ezra 2:43-54. The Nethinim; the name means given, i.e. to the sanctuary. They constituted an inferior grade of Temple slaves; they were originally captives of war (cf. Joshua 9:23; Numbers 31:28; Numbers 31:30) and therefore not Yahweh worshippers (cf. Ezekiel 44:7 ff.); their foreign origin is clear from the names Meunim, Nephisim; but they were reckoned as belonging to the Israelite community (see Nehemiah 10:29) because of their having been circumcised, so that on their return from the Exile they were no more regarded as slaves, but as free men who received their share from the Temple revenues. It is probable that ultimately the Nethinim were absorbed by the Levites.

Ezra 2:50. Meunim: =Minæ ans (cf. Hommel, The Ancient Hebrew Tradition, pp. 271- 274). Nephisim: cf. 1 Chronicles 13:1; 1 Chronicles 5:18-22.

Ezra 2:55-58. Solomon's servants; these formed a subdivision of the Nethinim, as is implied by one number being given for both classes; cf. Nehemiah 10:28, and see also Nehemiah 7:60; Nehemiah 11:3.

Ezra 2:59-63. Israelites and priests who were unable to trace their descent; as these were on this account not regarded as genuine members of the community they do not figure in the lists in Ezra 10:25-43; Nehemiah 10:1-27.

Ezra 2:62. were they. priesthood: cf. Nehemiah 7:64.

Ezra 2:63. the Tirshatha: = him that is feared (Lagarde, Symmicia, i. p. 60); a representative of the king of Persia; cf. Nehemiah 7:65; Nehemiah 7:70; Nehemiah 8:9; Nehemiah 10:1; it is equivalent to the Bab. Pekhah (Nehemiah 12:26). the most holy things: i.e. those things which only a priest might touch (cf. Numbers 18:9-11). till there. Thummim: i.e. until there appeared one who understood the ritual (cf. 1Ma_4:46). Urim and Thummim: (pp. 100f.) Heb. forms of the Ass. words Urtu and Tamitu, Decisions and Oracles, the Tablets of Destiny, often mentioned in the Babylonian story of the Creation; to possess these meant the attainment of supremacy among the gods. Babylonian priests gave oracles by means of the power accorded to them by Ea and his son Marduk; to the latter belonged the Tablets of Destiny (see Muss-Arnolt, in the American Journal of Semitic Languages, July 1900).

Ezra 2:64-67. A summary of what has preceded; the total of the returned exiles, 42,360, is the same as that given in Nehemiah 7:66 and in the Greek Ezra 5:41, but the numbers, when reckoned up, give a different total.

Ezra 2:65. singing men and singing women: cf. Nehemiah 7:67; either (α) professional singers employed to sing at feasts and banquets (cf. 2 Samuel 19:35; Ecclesiastes 2:7 f.), this is, however, improbable in this case in view of Nehemiah 5:2-5, from which it would appear that the people were scarcely able to procure the bare necessaries of life; moreover, luxurious ideas such as possessing singers of this kind would scarcely have been in the minds of the returning exiles. Or (b) Temple singers; it is true, singers of this kind have already been mentioned in Ezra 2:41, but the section before us is a summary, and a repetition is the less surprising when it is remembered that the Chronicler's main interest is centred in the Temple cultus. That there were women-singers in the Temple is evident from the references given above (1 Chronicles 15:20 *).

Ezra 2:67. their camels four hundred thirty and five: this number seems excessive for those who were so poor as the returned exiles; either the text is faulty or the Chronicler has exaggerated.

Related Commentaries of Ezra 2:1

Ezra 2:1-67

1 Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city;

2 Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah,a Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

3 The children of Parosh, two thousand an hundred seventy and two.

4 The children of Shephatiah, three hundred seventy and two.

5 The children of Arah, seven hundred seventy and five.

6 The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve.

7 The children of Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty and four.

8 The children of Zattu, nine hundred forty and five.

9 The children of Zaccai, seven hundred and threescore.

10 The children of Bani,b six hundred forty and two.

11 The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty and three.

12 The children of Azgad, a thousand two hundred twenty and two.

13 The children of Adonikam, six hundred sixty and six.

14 The children of Bigvai, two thousand fifty and six.

15 The children of Adin, four hundred fifty and four.

16 The children of Ater of Hezekiah, ninety and eight.

17 The children of Bezai, three hundred twenty and three.

18 The children of Jorah,c an hundred and twelve.

19 The children of Hashum, two hundred twenty and three.

20 The children of Gibbar,d ninety and five.

21 The children of Bethlehem, an hundred twenty and three.

22 The men of Netophah, fifty and six.

23 The men of Anathoth, an hundred twenty and eight.

24 The children of Azmaveth,e forty and two.

25 The children of Kirjatharim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty and three.

26 The children of Ramah and Gaba, six hundred twenty and one.

27 The men of Michmas, an hundred twenty and two.

28 The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred twenty and three.

29 The children of Nebo, fifty and two.

30 The children of Magbish, an hundred fifty and six.

31 The children of the other Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty and four.

32 The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty.

33 The children of Lod, Hadid,f and Ono, seven hundred twenty and five.

34 The children of Jericho, three hundred forty and five.

35 The children of Senaah, three thousand and six hundred and thirty.

36 The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy and three.

37 The children of Immer, a thousand fifty and two.

38 The children of Pashur, a thousand two hundred forty and seven.

39 The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen.

40 The Levites: the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the children of Hodaviah,g seventy and four.

41 The singers: the children of Asaph, an hundred twenty and eight.

42 The children of the porters: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, in all an hundred thirty and nine.

43 The Nethinims: the children of Ziha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth,

44 The children of Keros, the children of Siaha,h the children of Padon,

45 The children of Lebanah, the children of Hagabah, the children of Akkub,

46 The children of Hagab, the children of Shalmai,i the children of Hanan,

47 The children of Giddel, the children of Gahar, the children of Reaiah,

48 The children of Rezin, the children of Nekoda, the children of Gazzam,

49 The children of Uzza, the children of Paseah, the children of Besai,

50 The children of Asnah, the children of Mehunim, the children of Nephusim,j

51 The children of Bakbuk, the children of Hakupha, the children of Harhur,

52 The children of Bazluth,k the children of Mehida, the children of Harsha,

53 The children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Thamah,

54 The children of Neziah, the children of Hatipha.

55 The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Peruda,l

56 The children of Jaalah, the children of Darkon, the children of Giddel,

57 The children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth of Zebaim, the children of Ami.m

58 All the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants, were three hundred ninety and two.

59 And these were they which went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan,n and Immer: but they could not shew their father's house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel:

60 The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred fifty and two.

61 And of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai; which took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name:

62 These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted,o put from the priesthood.

63 And the Tirshathap said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.

64 The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore,

65 Beside their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women.

66 Their horses were seven hundred thirty and six; their mules, two hundred forty and five;

67 Their camels, four hundred thirty and five; their asses, six thousand seven hundred and twenty.