Ezra 2
The full text of Ezra 2 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew and Aramaic. Free to read.
1 These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported to Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.
2 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:
3 the descendants of Parosh: 2,172;
4 the descendants of Shephatiah: 372;
5 the descendants of Arah: 775;
6 the descendants of Pahath-Moab, through the line of Jeshua and Joab: 2,812;
7 the descendants of Elam: 1,254;
8 the descendants of Zattu: 945;
9 the descendants of Zaccai: 760;
10 the descendants of Bani: 642;
11 the descendants of Bebai: 623;
12 the descendants of Azgad: 1,222;
13 the descendants of Adonikam: 666;
14 the descendants of Bigvai: 2,056;
15 the descendants of Adin: 454;
16 the descendants of Ater, of the line of Hezekiah: 98;
17 the descendants of Bezai: 323;
18 the descendants of Jorah: 112;
19 the descendants of Hashum: 223;
20 the descendants of Gibbar: 95;
21 the men of Bethlehem: 123;
22 the men of Netophah: 56;
23 the men of Anathoth: 128;
24 the descendants of Azmaveth: 42;
25 the descendants of Kiriath-Arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth: 743;
26 the descendants of Ramah and Geba: 621;
27 the men of Michmas: 122;
28 the men of Bethel and Ai: 223;
29 the descendants of Nebo: 52;
30 the descendants of Magbish: 156;
31 the descendants of the other Elam: 1,254;
32 the descendants of Harim: 320;
33 the descendants of Lod, Hadid, and Ono: 725;
34 the descendants of Jericho: 345;
35 the descendants of Senaah: 3,630.
36 The priests: the descendants of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua: 973;
37 the descendants of Immer: 1,052;
38 the descendants of Pashhur: 1,247;
39 the descendants of Harim: 1,017.
40 The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the line of Hodaviah: 74.
41 The singers: the descendants of Asaph: 128.
42 The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai: 139 in all.
43 The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth,
44 Keros, Siaha, Padon,
45 Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub,
46 Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan,
47 Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah,
48 Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam,
49 Uzza, Paseah, Besai,
50 Asnah, Meunim, Nephusim,
51 Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur,
52 Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha,
53 Barkos, Sisera, Temah,
54 Neziah, and Hatipha.
55 The descendants of Solomon's servants: the descendants of Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda,
56 Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel,
57 Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth-Hazzebaim, and Ami.
58 The temple servants and the descendants of Solomon's servants totaled 392.
59 The following came up from Tel-Melah, Tel-Harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but could not prove that their families were descended from Israel:
60 the descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda: 652.
61 And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai (who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name).
62 These searched for their entries in the genealogical records, but they could not be found, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.
63 The governor told them that they must not eat the most holy food until a priest stood with the Urim and Thummim.
64 The whole assembly together numbered 42,360,
65 besides their 7,337 male and female servants; and they had 200 male and female singers.
66 Their horses numbered 736, their mules 245,
67 their camels 435, and their donkeys 6,720.
68 When they arrived at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, some of the heads of families gave freewill offerings for the house of God, to rebuild it on its site.
69 According to their ability they gave to the treasury for the work: 61,000 gold drachmas, 5,000 silver minas, and 100 priestly garments.
70 The priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants settled in their towns, and all the rest of Israel settled in their towns.
Translation notes (11)
- Ezra 2:1a The phrase benei hammedinah, literally 'sons of the province', reflects the administrative vocabulary of the Persian empire, in which Judah (Yehud) was organized as a province within the satrapy Beyond the River. The term medinah, 'province', appears frequently in the Persian-period books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther and marks the returnees as subjects of imperial administration.
- Ezra 2:2a The Nehemiah and Mordecai named here preceded the governor of the book of Nehemiah and the courtier of Esther by decades and are distinct figures. The parallel list in Nehemiah 7:7 includes a twelfth name, Nahamani, a total that likely evokes the twelve tribes of Israel.
- Ezra 2:6a Pahath-Moab (פַּחַת מוֹאָב) is a family name meaning pachat Moav, 'governor of Moab', likely preserving the title of an ancestor who once held office in that region. The clan is subdivided here into two lines, Jeshua and Joab, and appears again in the parallel list of Nehemiah 7:11 with a slightly larger count of 2,818.
- Ezra 2:36a Here begins the register of priests: four families totaling 4,289. Jedaiah heads the second of the twenty-four priestly divisions listed in 1 Chronicles 24:7. The house of Jeshua is often identified with the family of the high priest Jeshua son of Jozadak (Ezra 3:2). While the parallel lists diverge at several points, Nehemiah 7:39 records the identical figure of 973 for this family.
- Ezra 2:43a The title translated "temple servants" is nethinim (נְתִינִים), literally 'those given', from the Hebrew verb natan, 'to give'. They were a hereditary class dedicated to menial service in the sanctuary, traditionally traced to foreign captives such as the Gibeonites assigned to serve the altar (Joshua 9:27).
- Ezra 2:55a Avdei Shelomoh, 'servants of Solomon', designates a hereditary class distinct from the temple servants listed just before, though the two groups are counted together in verse 58. They are commonly identified as descendants of the non-Israelite populations whom Solomon conscripted for forced labor (1 Kings 9:20-21), their status having become fixed and heritable over the centuries.
- Ezra 2:59a The element tel (תֵּל), 'mound' or 'ruin heap', in the first two place names marks these as Babylonian settlements of the exiles. The Hebrew literally says they could not declare 'their father's house and their seed'; the parallel list in Nehemiah 7:61 reads Addon for Addan. Such registers determined land claims and, as the following verses show, eligibility for the priesthood.
- Ezra 2:61a Barzillai the Gileadite was the wealthy benefactor who supported David during Absalom's revolt (2 Samuel 17:27; 19:31-39). By taking the name of his wife's family, this priest reversed the normal patrilineal custom, likely to secure an inheritance, but the change obscured his priestly descent and left it unverifiable in the genealogical records (verse 62).
- Ezra 2:63a The title translated 'the governor' is hattirshata, a Persian loanword of uncertain meaning, used in Ezra and Nehemiah for the provincial administrator. The Urim and Thummim were sacred lots kept in the high priest's breastpiece for discerning God's will (Exodus 28:30); their use is unattested after the exile, so the disputed priestly claims were deferred indefinitely.
- Ezra 2:64a The individual figures listed in this chapter sum to roughly 29,818, well short of the stated total. The parallel lists in Nehemiah 7 and 1 Esdras 5 give differing itemized figures yet share the same total of 42,360, suggesting the discrepancy arose early in the transmission of the individual entries rather than in the total itself.
- Ezra 2:69a Darkemonim, 'drachmas', denotes a coin of the Persian period, identified by some with the Greek drachma and by others with the Persian gold daric; coined money postdates the events of the exodus-era tabernacle but fits the age of the return. The maneh, 'mina', by contrast, is an older unit of weight, here measuring silver rather than counting coins.
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