Ezra 1:5

The Exiles Prepare to Return to Jerusalem

1:5 Then the leaders ¹  of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites – all those whose mind God had stirred – got ready ²  to go up in order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. ³ 

Ezra 2:1

The Names of the Returning Exiles

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.

Ezra 2:61

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).

Ezra 3:12

3:12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders ¹⁰  – older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established ¹¹  – were weeping loudly, ¹²  and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout.

Ezra 6:20-21

6:20 The priests and the Levites had purified themselves, every last one, ¹³  and they all were ceremonially pure. They sacrificed the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their colleagues ¹⁴  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 ¹⁵  in separating themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel.

Ezra 7:1

The Arrival of Ezra

7:1 Now after these things had happened, during the reign of King Artaxerxes ¹⁶  of Persia, Ezra came up from Babylon. ¹⁷  Ezra was the son of Seraiah, who was the son of Azariah, who was the son of Hilkiah,

Ezra 7:9

7:9 On the first day of the first month he had determined to make ¹⁸  the ascent from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived at Jerusalem, ¹⁹  for the good hand of his God was on him.

Ezra 8:15

The Exiles Travel to Jerusalem

8:15 I had them assemble ²⁰  at the canal ²¹  that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I observed that the people and the priests were present, but I found no Levites there.

Ezra 8:25

8:25 and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels intended for the temple of our God – items that the king, his advisers, his officials, and all Israel who were present had contributed.

Ezra 8:30

8:30 Then the priests and the Levites took charge of ²²  the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to transport them to Jerusalem to the temple of our God.

Ezra 10:18

Those Who Had Taken Foreign Wives

10:18 It was determined ²³  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.

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¹ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

² tn Heb “arose.”

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

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 tc The translation reads וּמִן (umin, “and from”) rather than the reading וּמִבּנֵי (umibbÿney, “and from the sons of”) found in the MT.

⁹ tn Heb “their.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

¹¹ sn The temple had been destroyed some fifty years earlier by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.

¹² tn Heb “with a great voice.”

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ tn Heb “brothers.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “who had separated from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to them.”

¹⁶ sn If the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7:1 is Artaxerxes I Longimanus (ca. 464–423 B.C.), Ezra must have arrived in Jerusalem ca. 458 B.C., since Ezra 7:7-8 connects the time of his arrival to the seventh year of the king. The arrival of Nehemiah is then linked to the twentieth year of the king (Neh 1:1), or ca. 445 B.C. Some scholars, however, have suggested that Ezra 7:7 should be read as “the thirty-seventh year” rather than “the seventh year.” This would have Ezra coming to Jerusalem after, rather than before, the arrival of Nehemiah. Others have taken the seventh year of Ezra 7:7-8 to refer not to Artaxerxes I but to Artaxerxes II, who ruled ca. 404–358 B.C. In this understanding Ezra would have returned to Jerusalem ca. 398 B.C., a good many years after the return of Nehemiah. Neither of these views is certain, however, and it seems better to retain the traditional understanding of the chronological sequence of returns by Ezra and Nehemiah. With this understanding there is a gap of about fifty-eight years between chapter six, which describes the dedication of the temple in 516 b.c., and chapter seven, which opens with Ezra’s coming to Jerusalem in 458 b.c.

¹⁷ tn The words “came up from Babylon” do not appear in the Hebrew text until v. 6. They have been supplied here for the sake of clarity.

¹⁸ tc The translation reads יִסַּד (yissad, “he appointed” [= determined]) rather than the reading יְסֻד (yÿsud, “foundation”) of the MT. (The words “to make” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.)

¹⁹ sn Apparently it took the caravan almost four months to make the five hundred mile journey.

²⁰ tn Or “I gathered them.”

²¹ tn Heb “river.” So also in vv. 21, 31.

²² tn Heb “received.”

²³ tn Heb “found.”