Ezra 6:20

6:20 The priests and the Levites had purified themselves, every last one, ¹  and they all were ceremonially pure. They sacrificed the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their colleagues ²  the priests, and for themselves.

Ezra 7:7

7:7 In the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, Ezra brought ³  up to Jerusalem ⁴  some of the Israelites and some of the priests, the Levites, the attendants, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants.

Ezra 8:29

8:29 Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, ⁵  in the storerooms of the temple of the Lord.”

¹ tn Heb “as one.” The expression is best understood as referring to the unity shown by the religious leaders in preparing themselves for the observance of Passover. On the meaning of the Hebrew phrase see DCH 1:182 s.v. אֶחָד 3b. See also HALOT 30 s.v. אֶחָד 5.

² tn Heb “brothers.”

³ 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.

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

⁵ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.