Ezra 2:2

Which came with Zerubbabel,.... The head of them, the prince of Judah; and the chief that came with him are the ten following; Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai,

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

As for this catalogue, it differs in some names and numbers from that Ne 7, which might be from divers causes, partly because several names were given to one and the same person; and partly because of the many changes which might happen in the same families between the time of the first making of this catalogue by Ezra, and the making of it anew so many years as that catalogue, Ne 7, was made after the former.

Ezra 2:2 Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:Ver 2. That came with Zerubbabel] That famous prince of Judah, Ezra 1:8, governor of Judah, Haggai 1:1, who was born in Babylon, and accordingly had a Babylonian name. His hands laid the foundation of the second temple, his hands also finished, Zechariah 4:9, whence some conclude that the Lord gave him a life much longer than ordinary. His children shall not to bed till their work be done. Jeshua] This was that Jehoshuah the high priest, the great assistant of Zerubbabel in building the Temple, Ezra 5:2 Haggai 1:14. These were those faithful witnesses of God in their generation, as before them had been Moses and Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, and as after them Paul and Barnabas, Luther and Melancthon, Oecolampadius and Zwinglius, &c. Christ sent out his disciples by two and two: for two is better than one; and why? see Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. Nehemiah, Saraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai] Not that famous Nehemiah nor that renowned Mordecai so much spoken of in the Book of Esther but others of the same name. Reasons see in Mr Pemble’ s Period of the Persian Monarchy, pp. 30, 31. Bilshan, Mizpar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah] These were all of them guides and governors to the rest, eminent and eximious. To whom in Nehemiah is added a twelfth man, Nahumani by name, who better bethought himself belike; and having answered with that young man in the Gospel, and said, I will not, yet afterwards repented and went. Nunquam sere, si serio. This was better than those many that answered and said, We go, sir, and yet went not, Matthew 21:29-30. The number of the men of the people of Israel] The former were names, men of renown in the congregation. The rest that follow are but numbers, Nos numeri sumus, &c., men of common condition, the many, οιπολλοι, who are set down in the sequel of the chapter.

(2) Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua.—The leaders of the people, perhaps the twelve tribes, are represented by twelve names, one of which, Nahamani, is here wanting; three others are given in slightly different forms.

Verse 2. Which came with Zerubbabel] There are many difficulties in this table of names; but as we have no less than three copies of it, that contained here from Ezra 2:1-67, a second in Ne 7:6-69, and a third in 1Esdras 5:7-43, on a careful examination they will be found to correct each other. The versions also, and the Variae Lectiones of Kennicott and De Rossi, do much toward harmonizing the names. Though the sum total at the end of each of these enumerations is equal, namely 42,360, yet the particulars reckoned up make in Ezra only 29,818, and in Nehemiah 31,089. We find that Nehemiah mentions 1765 persons which are not in Ezra, and Ezra has 494 not mentioned by Nehemiah. Mr. Alting thinks that this circumstance, which appears to render all hope of reconciling them impossible, is precisely the very point by which they can be reconciled; for if we add Ezra's surplus to the sum in Nehemiah, and the surplus of Nehemiah to the number in Ezra, the numbers will be equal. Thus: - The number in Ezra ... 29,818 Surplus in Nehemiah ....... 1,765 -------- Sum total ............ 31,583 The number in Nehemiah.... 31,089 The surplus in Ezra ..... 494 If we subtract this sum 31,583 from 42,360, we shall have a deficiency of 10,777 from the numbers as summed up in the text; and these are not named here, either because their registers were not found, or they were not of Judah and Benjamin, the tribes particularly concerned, but of the other Israelitish tribes; see Ezra 2:36.

2. which came with Zerubbabel:] Better punctuate as R.V. ‘with Zerubbabel,’. Those referred to are the main subject of Ezr 2:1, ‘the children of the province, &c.’, and are here described as coming with Zerubbabel and his companions. Zerubbabel] (i.e. ‘begotten in Babylon’, or ‘the seed of Babylon’) is said to be an Assyrian name. The grandson of Jehoiachin, Zerubbabel was the representative of David’s dynasty (see 1 Chronicles 3:16 &c.). He is generally called ‘the son of Shealtiel’ (see note on 1 Chronicles 3:2), but the genealogy in 1 Chron. (1 Chronicles 3:19) represents him as the son of Pedaiah. He is called ‘the son of Shealtiel’ either as Shealtiel’s nephew and heir, or as Shealtiel’s legal son, Pedaiah having contracted a Levirate marriage with Shealtiel’s widow. On the identity of Zerubbabel and Sheshbazzar see note on Ezra 1:8. Jeshua] is a shortened form of Jehoshua or Joshua, used in Nehemiah 8:17 for the name of ‘the son of Nun’. The Jeshua here spoken of (and Ezra 3:2; Ezra 3:8; Ezra 4:3) is the Joshua mentioned in Haggai 1:1; Haggai 1:12; Haggai 1:14; Haggai 2:2; Haggai 2:4; Zechariah 3:1; Zechariah 3:3; Zechariah 3:6; Zechariah 6:2. He is the High-priest of the Return from the Captivity, being the son of Jehozadak, and grandson of the Seraiah whom Nebuchadnezzar put to death at Riblah after the destruction of Jerusalem, cf. 2 Kings 25:18-21; Jeremiah 52:24-27 (b.c. 586). See the genealogy of ‘the sons of Levi’ in 1 Chronicles 6:1-15. Nehemiah] not to be confounded with the better known Nehemiah, who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem 90 years later, 445 b.c. Seraiah] = Azariah, Nehemiah 7:7. Reelaiah] = Raamiah, Nehemiah 7:7. Mordecai] not to be identified with the Mordecai of the book Esther. Mizpah] A.V. transliterates incorrectly, making the form of the word to resemble the common Hebrew name of a place. R.V. Mispar correctly; for which compare ‘Mispereth’, Nehemiah 7:7. Rehum] = Nehum, Nehemiah 7:7. The names (including Zerubbabel) here recorded are 11 in number. The parallel passage in Nehemiah gives 12 names, that of Nahamani occurring between Reelaiah and Mordecai, and this is supported by the mention of 12 names in 1Es 5:8, where Euenius corresponds to Nahamani. Ezra (A.V.) Nehemiah 7:7 (A.V.) 1Es 5:8 (A.V.) Zerubbabel Zerubbabel Zorobabel Jeshua Jeshua Jesus Nehemiah Nehemiah Nehemias Seraiah Azariah Zacharias Reelaiah Raamiah Reesaias Nahamani Euenius Mordecai Mordecai Mardochæus Bilshan Bilshan Beelsarus Mizpah (Mispar, R.V.) Mispereth Aspharasus Bigvai Bigvai Reelius Rehum Nehum Roimus Baanah Baanah Baana It is most probable that the name of Nahamani has dropped out of our text by an early error of transcription. The mention then of 11 names along with that of Zerubbabel suggests the idea that the attempt was made to revive the old subdivision of the people and to group the members of two tribes under twelve representative princes in the same way as four classes of priests were afterwards re-divided into twenty-four. The idea of the twelve tribes conveyed the thought of Israel’s totality and unity (a) in the days of the divided monarchy, cf.

2. Zerubbabel: Jeshua — These were the two chief fathers and guides of the people who returned.