This chapter provides a detailed census of the returning exiles who came up from Babylon with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, and other leaders, listing the people by their ancestral families and towns of origin. The total congregation numbered 42,360, besides 7,337 male and female servants and 200 singers, with 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys. Certain priests were excluded from the priesthood because they could not prove their genealogy, and some of the heads of fathers' houses gave freewill offerings for the reconstruction, contributing 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priestly garments; the people settled in their ancestral towns while the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants settled in their designated places.
Read Ezra Chapter 2 Summary
Characters in This Chapter
Priest and scribe who led the second return and addressed intermarriage
Leader of the first return who oversaw temple rebuilding
Persian king who decreed the Jews could return and rebuild the temple
King of Babylon
Son of Jacob, Ancestor of David and Christ
Builder of the Walls
Guardian of Esther
Commander of David's Army
Righteous King of Judah
Levite Musician and Psalmist
Wise King of Israel
Ammonite Official who Opposed Nehemiah
Places in This Chapter
Gibeon was a Canaanite city whose inhabitants tricked Joshua into making a peace treaty. God made the sun stand still here during Joshua's battle. Solomon offered sacrifices at the great high place in Gibeon, where God appeared to him in a dream offering him anything he asked.
Bethlehem, meaning "House of Bread," is most famous as the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Located about 10 kilometers south of Jerusalem, it was also the hometown of King David and the setting of the Book of Ruth. The prophet Micah foretold that the Messiah would come from this small town. Today, the Church of the Nativity marks the traditional site of Jesus' birth.
Ramah (also Ramathaim-zophim) was the hometown of Samuel the prophet. He lived here, judged Israel from here, and was buried here. It was a center for the prophets and the school of prophets. Saul first met Samuel here when searching for his father's donkeys.
Bethel means "House of God" and was where Jacob had his famous dream of a ladder reaching to heaven with angels ascending and descending. Abraham also built altars here. Later, Jeroboam set up a golden calf here as an alternative worship site to Jerusalem, which was condemned by prophets.
Jericho, one of the oldest cities in the world, was the first Canaanite city conquered by the Israelites after crossing the Jordan River. Its walls famously fell after the Israelites marched around it for seven days as commanded by God through Joshua. Jesus later passed through Jericho, healing blind Bartimaeus and dining with the tax collector Zacchaeus.
Position in Book
Cyrus's decree, the exiles return, list of returnees.