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.
4:1 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the former exiles 8 were building a temple for the Lord God of Israel,
9:1 Now when these things had been completed, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents 9 who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
1 tn Heb “these.”
2 tn Heb “their records were searched for in the genealogical materials, but were not found.” This passive construction has been translated as active for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Heb “they were desecrated.”
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.
8 tn Heb “the sons of the exile.”
9 tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.” So also in v. 2.