Ezra 2:1

_NOW THESE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE PROVINCE THAT WENT UP OUT OF THE CAPTIVITY, OF THOSE WHICH HAD BEEN CARRIED AWAY, WHOM NEBUCHADNEZZAR THE KING OF BABYLON HAD CARRIED AWAY UNTO BABYLON, AND CAME AGAIN UNTO JERUSALEM AND JUDAH, EVERY ONE UNTO HIS CITY;_ Children of the province - i:e., Judea (Ezra 5:8), so called as being now reduced from an illustrious, independent, and powerful kingdom to an obscure, servile, tributary province of the Persian empire. This name is applied by the sacred historian to intimate that the Jewish exiles, though now released from captivity and allowed to return into their own land, were still the subjects of Cyrus, inhabiting a province dependent upon Persia х_ BªNEEY_ (H1121) _ HAMªDIYNAAH_ (H4082), sons of the province] - i:e., according to Gesenius, Israel

1-35 An account was kept of the families that came up out of captivity. See how sin lowers a nation, which righteousness would exalt!...

CHAPTER II _An account of those who returned from Babylon_, 1-35. _The children of the priests who returned_, 36-39. _Of the Levites_, 40. _Of the singers_, 41. _Of the porters_, 42. _Of the Nethinim, and the children of Solomon's servants_, 43-58. _Others who could not find out their registers_, 59-62. _The number of the whole congregation_, 63, 64. _Of their servants, maids, and singers_, 65. _Their horses and mules_, 66. _Their camels and asses_, 67....

THE PROVINCE - Judaea was no longer a kingdom, but a mere “province” of Persia. “The children of the province” are the Israelites who returned to Palestine, as distinct from those who remained in Babylonia and Persia. EVERY ONE UNTO HIS CITY - That is, to the city whereto his forefathers had belonged. Of course, in the few cases where this was not known Ezra 2:59, the plan could not be carried out. Two other copies of the following list have come down to us - one in Nehemiah 7:7, and the other in 1 Esdras 5:8-43. All seem to have been taken from the same original document, and to have suffered more or less from corruption. Where two out of the three agree, the reading should prevail over that of the t

EXPOSITION THE NUMBER OF THOSE WHO RETURNED FROM CAPTIVITY WITH ZERUBBABEL, AND THE NAMES OF THE CHIEFS (Ezra 2:1). It has been argued that the whole of this chapter is out of place here, and has been transferred hither from Nehemiah (Nehemiah 7:6), where it occupies its rightful position (Bishop A. Hervey). According to this view, the list is one embodying the results of the census made by Nehemiah, not a list of those who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel But it seems strange that such a theory should ever h

NOW THESE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE PROVINCE,.... Either of the province of Babylon, as Aben Ezra, where they were either born, or had dwelt for many years; or else rather, according to Jarchi, of the province of Judea, as it is called, Ezra 5:8 once a flourishing kingdom, but reduced to a province of the Babylonian monarchy, now in the hands of the Medes and Persians, of which province they and their fathers originally were: THAT WENT OUT OF THE CAPTIVITY, OF THOSE WHICH HAD BEEN CARRIED AWAY, WHOM NEBUCHADNEZZAR KING OF BABYLON HAD CARRIED AWAY UNTO BABYLON; who either in person, or in their parents, were carried captive by him, and who were the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; and they are only mentioned, because they were the principal that returned, though there were some of the other tribes that also came up with them: and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every

ARE THE CHILDREN Probably individuals from all of the tribes returned to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, but speaking broadly, the dispersion of the ten tribes (Ephraim-Israel) still continues; nor can they now be positively identified. They are, however, preserved distinct from other peoples and are known to God as such, though they themselves, few in number, know Him not (Deuteronomy 28:62); (Isaiah 11:11); (Hosea 3:4); (Hosea 8:8). The order of the restoration was as follows: (1) The return of the first detachment under Zerubbabel and Jeshua (B.C. 536), Ezra 1-6, and the books of Haggai and

CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The leaders (Ezra 2:1)_ 2. The names of the returning exiles (Ezra 2:3) 3. The priests (Ezra 2:36) 4. The Levites and singers (Ezra 2:40) 5. The porters and Nethinim (Ezra 2:42) 6. Solomon's servants (Ezra 2:55) 7. Those of doubtful descent (Ezra 2:59) 8. The number of the whole company ...

A LIST OF THE EXILES WHO RETURNED UNDER ZERUBBABEL. See the Greek Ezra (1 Esdras) Esther 5:7 and Nehemiah 7:6_ a_, where this list also occurs, though with some variations. Ezra 2:1 a. province: Heb. _medinah,_ equivalent to the Persian satrapy. It refers here to the tract of country, with Jerusalem as its centre (_cf._ Ezra 5:8; Nehemiah 1:3; Nehemiah 11:3), over which Zerubbabel was governor, the province of Judah. ZERUBBABEL: seed of Babel; according to

THESE ARE. This chapter is parallel with Nehemiah 7:69. See the Structure, p. 617, and App-58. CHILDREN. sons. THE PROVINCE: i.e. the Persian province of Judah. Compare Nehemiah 1:3. AND JUDAH. Some codices read "and unto Judsea". Compare Nehemiah 7:6. ONE. Hebrew. _Ish_. App-14....