Ezra 2:1

The Names of the Returning Exiles

2:1 ¹ These are the people ²  of the province who were going up, ³  from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem ⁴  and Judah, each to his own city.

Ezra 5:13

5:13 But in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, ⁵  King Cyrus enacted a decree to rebuild this temple of God.

Ezra 7:16

7:16 along with all the silver and gold that you may collect ⁶  throughout all the province of Babylon and the contributions of the people and the priests for the temple of their God which is in Jerusalem.

Ezra 5:14

5:14 Even the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought to the palace ⁷  of Babylon – even those things King Cyrus brought from the palace of Babylon and presented ⁸  to a man by the name of Sheshbazzar whom he had appointed as governor.

Ezra 5:12

5:12 But after our ancestors ⁹  angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands ¹⁰  of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon. ¹¹ 

[2:1]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “the sons of.”

[2:1]  ³ 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]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:13]  ⁵ sn Cyrus was actually a Persian king, but when he conquered Babylon in 539 b.c. he apparently appropriated to himself the additional title “king of Babylon.” The Syriac Peshitta substitutes “Persia” for “Babylon” here, but this is probably a hyper-correction.

[7:16]  ⁹ tn Aram “find.”

[5:14]  ¹³ tn Or “temple.”

[5:14]  ¹⁴ tn Aram “they were given.”

[5:12]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “fathers.”

[5:12]  ¹⁸ tn Aram “hand” (singular).

[5:12]  ¹⁹ sn A reference to the catastrophic events of 586 b.c.