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 5:12

5:12 But after our ancestors 5  angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands 6  of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon. 7 

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 tn Heb “the sons of.”

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.”

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

5 tn Aram “fathers.”

6 tn Aram “hand” (singular).

7 sn A reference to the catastrophic events of 586 b.c.