1:7 Then King Cyrus brought out the vessels of the Lord’s temple which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem and had displayed 1 in the temple of his gods.
2:1 2 These are the people 3 of the province who were going up, 4 from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem 5 and Judah, each to his own city. 2:2 They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.
The number of Israelites 6 was as follows: 7
2:61 And from among 8 the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that 9 name).
7:11 What follows 14 is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priestly scribe. 15 Ezra was 16 a scribe in matters pertaining to the commandments of the Lord and his statutes over Israel:
10:18 It was determined 17 that from the descendants of the priests, the following had taken foreign wives: from the descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.
1 tn Heb “and he gave them.”
2 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.
3 tn Heb “the sons of.”
4 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.”
5 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
3 tn Heb “men of the people of Israel.”
4 tn The words “was as follows” are not in the Hebrew text but are used in the translation for clarity.
4 tc The translation reads וּמִן (umin, “and from”) rather than the reading וּמִבּנֵי (umibbÿney, “and from the sons of”) found in the MT.
5 tn Heb “their.”
5 tn The Hebrew word תִּרְשָׁתָא (tirshata’) is an official title of the Persian governor in Judea, perhaps similar in meaning to “excellency” (BDB 1077 s.v.; HALOT 1798 s.v.; W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 395).
6 tn Heb “to stand.”
6 tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”
7 tn Heb “cause it to stand.”
7 tn Heb “this.”
8 tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.” So also in v. 21.
9 tn The words “Ezra was” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “found.”