Ezra 1:11--2:1

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.

The Names of the Returning Exiles

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.

Ezra 6:20-21

6:20 The priests and the Levites had purified themselves, every last one, ⁶  and they all were ceremonially pure. They sacrificed the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their colleagues ⁷  the priests, and for themselves. 6:21 The Israelites who were returning from the exile ate it, along with all those who had joined them ⁸  in separating themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel.

Ezra 9:4

9:4 Everyone who held the words of the God of Israel in awe ⁹  gathered around me because of the unfaithful acts of the people of the exile. ¹⁰  Devastated, I continued to sit there until the evening offering.

Ezra 10:8

10:8 Everyone who did not come within three days would thereby forfeit all his property, in keeping with the counsel of the officials and the elders. Furthermore, he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

[1:11]  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.”

[2:1]  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.

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “the sons of.”

[2:1]  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.”

[2:1]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:20]  ³ 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.

[6:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “brothers.”

[6:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “who had separated from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to them.”

[9:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “who trembled at the words of the God of Israel.”

[9:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “the exile”; the words “the people” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.