1:11 All these gold and silver vessels totaled 5,400. 1 Sheshbazzar brought them all along when the captives were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
8:1 These are the leaders 3 and those enrolled with them by genealogy who were coming up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
2:1 4 These are the people 5 of the province who were going up, 6 from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem 7 and Judah, each to his own city.
2:59 These are the ones that came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer (although they were unable to certify 8 their family connection 9 or their ancestry, 10 as to whether they really were from Israel):
1:5 Then the leaders 15 of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites – all those whose mind God had stirred – got ready 16 to go up in order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. 17
1 sn The total number as given in the MT does not match the numbers given for the various items in v. 9. It is not clear whether the difference is due to error in textual transmission or whether the constituent items mentioned are only a selection from a longer list, in which case the total from that longer list may have been retained. The numbers provided in 1 Esdras come much closer to agreeing with the number in Ezra 1:9-11, but this does not necessarily mean that 1 Esdras has been better preserved here than Ezra. 1 Esdras 2:13-15 (RSV) says, “The number of these was: a thousand gold cups, a thousand silver cups, twenty-nine silver censures, thirty gold bowls, two thousand four hundred and ten silver bowls, and a thousand other vessels. All the vessels were handed over, gold and silver, five thousand four hundred and sixty-nine, and they were carried back by Shesbazzar with the returning exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem.”
2 tn Or “the foundation of the
3 tn Heb “the heads of their families.”
4 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.
5 tn Heb “the sons of.”
6 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.”
7 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
5 tn Heb “relate.”
6 tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”
7 tn Heb “their seed.”
6 tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”
7 tc The translation reads the Hiphil singular וַיַּעֲל (vayya’al, “he [Ezra] brought up”) rather than the Qal plural וַיַּעַלוּ (vayya’alu, “they came up”) of the MT.
8 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
8 tn Heb “from all.”
9 tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”
10 tn Heb “arose.”
11 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
10 sn Jozadak (also in 3:8) is a variant spelling of Jehozadak.
11 tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”
12 tn Heb “his brothers.”
13 tn Heb “arose and built.”
14 tn Heb “written in.” Cf. v. 4.
11 tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.” So also in v. 3.
12 tn Heb “Let us build with you.”
13 tc The translation reads with the Qere, a Qumran
14 tn Heb “days.”
15 sn Esarhaddon was king of Assyria ca. 681-669
16 sn The Assyrian policy had been to resettle Samaria with peoples from other areas (cf. 2 Kgs 17:24-34). These immigrants acknowledged Yahweh as well as other deities in some cases. The Jews who returned from the Exile regarded them with suspicion and were not hospitable to their offer of help in rebuilding the temple.