Ezra 2:3

Ver. 3-35. The children of Parosh, two thousand an hundred and seventy two.

The children of Parosh, two thousand an hundred seventy and two. The children. This word, as used throughout this catalogue, means posterity or descendants.

i.e. The posterity (as that word is for the most part, if not constantly, taken in this catalogue) that descended either from Parosh, or from that family whereof Parosh was the chief. And so for the rest.

Ezra 2:3 The children of Parosh, two thousand an hundred seventy and two.Ver. 3. The children of Parosh] Question is here made by some, whether this and other like chapters, that are nothing but names and numbers, should be read in course, since they may seem to be of no great use to us? To this Chrysostom answereth, In sacris libris nihil contemnatur aut obiter praetereatur, etiamsi nomina recenseantur, that is, let no part of the Holy Scripture be slighted or skipped over, no, though we meet with nothing but names only. But forasmuch as there is never a leaf, nay, line, nay, letter in God’ s book, that is not pure, precious, and profitable, Proverbs 30:5 Psalms 12:6 2 Timothy 3:16 (the Rabbins have a saying that there is a mountain of sense hanging upon every apex or tittle of the word of God); therefore must we read all, in obedience to him, who hath written for us these excellent things in counsel and knowledge, Proverbs 22:20, and if anything be yet hid, God shall reveal even this unto us, Philippians 3:15. Joseph understood not his own dreams at first, till he saw his brethren prostrate before him; then Joseph remembered the dreams that he dreamed of them, Genesis 42:9. The disciples conceived not, believed not, many things done by and to their Master, till he was glorified, and they further enlightened, John 2:22; John 12:6. Surely if Hippocrates could say of medicine, that there was nothing to be accounted little in it, nothing contemptible (ουδενμικρον, ουδενκαταφρονητεον); how much more may we say the same of divinity and of the Scriptures!

(3) The children of Parosh . . .—Then comes the enumeration of the family and local names. In the following instances we note when two of the three authorities agree. In Ezra 2:6, Ezra is confirmed by 1 Esdras as against Nehemiah’s 2,818; in Ezra 2:8, against his 945; in Ezra 2:11, against his 628; in Ezra 2:15, against his 655; in Ezra 2:17, against his 324; in Ezra 2:33, against his 721. In Ezra 2:10, the children of Bani, or Binnui, are 642, but 1 Esdras agrees with Nehemiah in making them 648; in Ezra 2:14, the two latter correct 666 into 667.—In Ezra 2:20, heads of families become places; Nehemiah substitutes Gibeon for Gibbar. Ezra 2:30 has no representative in Nehemiah. In Ezra 2:31, “the other Elam” has the same number as Elam in Ezra 2:7; and the Nebo of Ezr 2:29 is called in Nehemiah “the other Nebo,” though the only one, as if the “other” had slipped in from what in Nehemiah is found in the next verse. In a few cases all the authorities differ, but the differences are not important.

Verse 3. The children of Parosh] Where the word children is found in this table, prefixed to the name of a man, it signifies the descendants of that person, as from Ezra 2:3-21. Where it is found prefixed to a place, town, &c., it signifies the inhabitants of that place, as from Ezra 2:21-35.

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.