Ezra 2

Ezra 2:1

C. Register of Those Who Returned (Chap. 2)2:1-58 In verses 1-61 we have a list of those who returned to . . . Judah under Zerubbabel. Some are recorded according to parentage (vv. 3-19) and some according to hometown (vv. 20-35). Special mention is made of the priests (vv. 36-39), the Levites (vv. 40-42), and the Nethinim or temple-servants (vv. 43-54). They would occupy important roles in the reconstructed temple. 2:59-63 Some who claimed to be priests but who could not prove their genealogy were barred from serving or from eating the priests’ food until they were authorized through consulting the Urim and Thummim, or “lights and perfections.” The governor (or Tirshatha, NKJV marg., v. 63) was Zerubbabel. 2:64-67 A list of names similar to the one given in this chapter is found in Nehemiah 7. While there are some minor differences in tabulations, both give the total number of Jews returning to Judah as forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty plus seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven servants. Ezra adds 245 singers and Nehemiah adds 200. So the total of the returning remnant was about 50,000a small fraction of those who had been carried away. 2:68-70 When the Jews reached Jerusalem, some of the heads of the fathers’ houses contributed gold and silver for the construction of the house of God and garments for the priests. Then the people settled in their respective cities.