Ezra 2:1

The Names of the Returning Exiles

2:1 ¹ These are the people ²  of the province who were going up, ³  from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem ⁴  and Judah, each to his own city.

Ezra 5:12

5:12 But after our ancestors ⁵  angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands ⁶  of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon. ⁷ 

Ezra 6:8

6:8 “I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men, so that there may be no interruption of the work. ⁸ 

Ezra 7:6

7:6 This Ezra is the one who came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king supplied him with everything he requested, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

Ezra 8:15

The Exiles Travel to Jerusalem

8:15 I had them assemble ⁹  at the canal ¹⁰  that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I observed that the people and the priests were present, but I found no Levites there.

Ezra 10:16

10:16 So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out ¹¹  by name men who were leaders in their family groups. ¹²  They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month,

¹ sn The list of names and numbers in this chapter of Ezra has a parallel account in Neh 7:6-73. The fact that the two lists do not always agree in specific details suggests that various textual errors have crept into the accounts during the transmission process.

² tn Heb “the sons of.”

³ tn The Hebrew term הָעֹלִים (ha’olim, “those who were going up” [Qal active participle]) refers to continual action in the past. Most translations render this as a simple past: “went up” (KJV), “came up” (RSV, ASV, NASV, NIV), “came” (NRSV). CEV paraphrases: “were on their way back.”

⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

⁵ tn Aram “fathers.”

⁶ tn Aram “hand” (singular).

⁷ sn A reference to the catastrophic events of 586 b.c.

⁸ tn The words “of the work” are not in the Aramaic, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Or “I gathered them.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “river.” So also in vv. 21, 31.

¹¹ tc The translation reads the Hiphil singular וַיַּבְדֵּל לוֹ (vayyavdel lo, “separated for himself”) rather than the Niphal plural וַיִּבָּדְלוּ (vayyibbadÿlu, “were separated”) of the MT.

¹² tn Heb “the heads of the fathers, to the house of their fathers, and all of them by name.”