The Fallible Synthetic Study Bible

1

Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’êl·leh bə·nê ham·mə·ḏî·nāh hā·‘ō·lîm miš·šə·ḇî hag·gō·w·lāh ’ă·šer heḡ·lāh lə·ḇā·ḇel nə·ḇū·ḵaḏ·nɛṣ·ṣōr me·leḵ- bā·ḇel way·yā·šū·ḇū lî·rū·šā·lim wî·hū·ḏāh ’îš lə·‘î·rōw

Word by word17 · parsed

וְאֵ֣לֶּה׀wə·’êl·lehNow these [are]H428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thoseConjunctive wawPronouncommon plural

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe peopleH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

הַמְּדִינָ֗הham·mə·ḏî·nāhof the provinceH4082

√ mᵉdîynâh — properly, a judgeship, iArticleNounfeminine singular

mᵉdîynâh: province, judgeship-district The first noun of the chapter fixes the whole register's horizon: these are the sons of a Persian administrative unit, not of a kingdom. Poole and JFB both hear the word as an intentional humiliation, Gill and Cambridge as plain geography (the province whose centre was Jerusalem). Either way the roll that follows is a census taken inside somebody else's empire.

הָֽעֹלִים֙hā·‘ō·lîmwho came upH5927

√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

ʻâlâh: to go up, ascend Participle, not perfect: an identity rather than an act. The same verb carries every ascent to Zion in the Psalms of Ascents and every “going up” to the land; here it is applied to people walking out of Babylon, which lay downriver and downhill from Judah in more than one sense.

מִשְּׁבִ֣יmiš·šə·ḇîfrom the captivityH7628

√ shᵉbîy — exiledPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

הַגּוֹלָ֔הhag·gō·w·lāhof the exilesH1473

√ gôwlâh — exileArticleNounfeminine singular

gôwlâh: exile, the deportation Cambridge notes the Greek rendering ἀπὸ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας τῆς ἀποικίας and glosses the Hebrew as “out of the condition and scene of captivity.” The word had become a name: the Golah is what this community calls itself. A chapter of names begins by naming the whole body after its wound.

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

הֶגְלָ֛הheḡ·lāhcarried awayH1540

√ gâlâh — to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense)VerbHifilPerfectthird person masculine singular

gâlâh: to uncover, deport (Hiphil) Hiphil causative of the root behind gôlâh in the preceding word: the exile and the exiler are built from one consonantal root, and the verse sets them side by side. K&D notes the Chethiv spelling נבוכדנצור here, nearer the Babylonian Nabû-kudur-uṣur than the usual biblical form, evidence that this register came from a separate document.

לְבָבֶ֑לlə·ḇā·ḇelto BabylonH894

√ Bâbel — Babel (iPreposition-lNounproperfeminine singular

נְבוּכַדְנֶצּוֹרnə·ḇū·ḵaḏ·nɛṣ·ṣōrby NebuchadnezzarH5020

√ Nᵉbûwkadnetstsar — {Nebukadnetstsar (or -retstsar, or -retstsor), king of Babylon}Nounpropermasculine singular

מֶֽלֶךְ־me·leḵ-[its] kingH4428

√ melek — a kingNounmasculine singular construct

בָּבֶ֖לbā·ḇel. . .H894

√ Bâbel — Babel (iNounproperfeminine singular

וַיָּשׁ֛וּבוּway·yā·šū·ḇūThey returnedH7725

√ shûwb — to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

shûwb: to turn back, return Waw-consecutive imperfect, the narrative spine of the verse: after five words of passive deportation the subject changes and Israel acts. Strong's is careful that shûwb means “to turn back (hence, away)” and does not necessarily imply arrival at the starting point, which is exactly the tension the rest of the chapter works out: some can name the town they turned back to, and some cannot.

לִירוּשָׁלִַ֥םlî·rū·šā·limto JerusalemH3389

√ Yᵉrûwshâlaim — Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of PalestinePreposition-lNounproperfeminine singular

וִֽיהוּדָ֖הwî·hū·ḏāhand JudahH3063

√ Yᵉhûwdâh — Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five IsraelitesConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

אִ֥ישׁ’îšeachH376

√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular

לְעִירֽוֹ׃lə·‘î·rōwto his own townH5892

√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Preposition-lNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular

ʻîyr: city, guarded place With the third masculine singular suffix: his city. The register that follows is the outworking of this possessive. Where the possessive fails (vv. 59 to 62) the man is still counted but not seated.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-these [are] sons-of the-province, the-ones-going-up from-captivity-of the-exile whom he-carried-away, Nebuchadnezzar king-of Babel, to-Babel; and-they-returned to-Jerusalem and-Judah, a-man to-his-city.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַמְּדִינָה הַמְּדִינָה (ham·mə·ḏî·nāh, H4082) is not a neutral word for territory. Strong's derives it from a root of judging: “properly, a judgeship,” a district administered by a judge or governor. JFB reads the title as a deliberate sting: Judah is now “an obscure, servile, tributary province of the Persian empire.” The English “province” keeps the political fact and loses the demotion.
הָעֹלִים הָעֹלִים (hā·‘ō·lîm) is an articular Qal participle of ʻâlâh, “to ascend, mount.” Not “who came up” as a finished past event but “the ones going up,” a standing title for the returning body. The same participle heads v. 59. English tenses it; Hebrew names them by it.
הַגּוֹלָה BSB's “of the exiles” renders one word, הַגּוֹלָה (hag·gō·w·lāh, H1473, “exile”). Cambridge: it is “the technical abstract noun used to designate the Jews that had been carried away into foreign lands,” and the phrase is literally “from the captivity of the Golah.” The English turns an abstract condition into a group of people.
הֶגְלָה הֶגְלָה (heḡ·lāh) is Hiphil perfect of gâlâh, whose base sense Strong's gives as “to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense).” Deportation is stripping: the land uncovered, the people laid bare. The polite English “carried away” hides the shame packed into the root.
אִישׁ לְעִירוֹ אִישׁ לְעִירֽוֹ, “a man to-his-city,” is distributive, one man at a time, not a mass resettlement. Barnes takes it of “the city whereto his forefathers had belonged”; Cambridge answers that the phrase cannot be literally true of the first year and that the writer “summarizes the movement.” The clause is a claim about identity as much as about geography.

2

accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the count of the men of Israel:

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ă·šer- bā·’ū ‘im- zə·rub·bā·ḇel yê·šū·a‘ nə·ḥem·yāh śə·rā·yāh rə·‘ê·lā·yāh mā·rə·do·ḵay bil·šān mis·pār biḡ·way rə·ḥūm ba·‘ă·nāh mis·par ’an·šê ‘am yiś·rā·’êl

Word by word18 · parsed

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

בָּ֣אוּbā·’ūaccompaniedH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

bôwʼ: to come, go in K&D observes that this perfect corresponds to the participle hā‘ōlîm of v. 1, and that Nehemiah 7:7 has the participle here too. The register's header is therefore doubled: they are the ones going up, and they are the ones who came.

עִם־‘im-byH5973

√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPreposition

זְרֻבָּבֶ֗לzə·rub·bā·ḇelZerubbabelH2216

√ Zᵉrubbâbel — Zerubbabel, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Zᵉrubbâbel: Zerubbabel K&D and Cambridge agree the name is Babylonian in shape, “begotten in Babylon,” and that its bearer was grandson of the deported king Jehoiachin, that is, the living representative of David's house. The man named for the city of exile is the man who leads the march out of it.

יֵשׁ֡וּעַyê·šū·a‘JeshuaH3442

√ Yêshûwaʻ — Jeshua, the name of ten Israelites, also of a place in PalestineNounpropermasculine singular

נְ֠חֶמְיָהnə·ḥem·yāhNehemiahH5166

√ Nᵉchemyâh — Nechemjah, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

שְׂרָיָ֨הśə·rā·yāhSeraiahH8304

√ Sᵉrâyâh — Serajah, the name of nine IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

רְֽעֵלָיָ֜הrə·‘ê·lā·yāhReelaiahH7480

√ Rᵉʻêlâyâh — Reelajah, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

מָרְדֳּכַ֥יmā·rə·do·ḵayMordecaiH4782

√ Mordᵉkay — Mordecai, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

בִּלְשָׁ֛ןbil·šānBilshanH1114

√ Bilshân — Bilshan, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

מִסְפָּ֥רmis·pārMisparH4558

√ Miçpâr — Mispar, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

בִּגְוַ֖יbiḡ·wayBigvaiH902

√ Bigvay — Bigvai, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

רְח֣וּםrə·ḥūmRehumH7348

√ Rᵉchûwm — Rechum, the name of a Persian and of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

בַּעֲנָ֑הba·‘ă·nāhand BaanahH1196

√ Baʻănâh — Baanah, the name of four IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

מִסְפַּ֕רmis·par[This is] the countH4557

√ miçpâr — a number, definite (arithmetical) or indefinite (large, innumerableNounmasculine singular construct

miçpâr: number, count The heading word for everything from v. 3 to v. 67. Cambridge treats it as a title for the register; Pulpit warns that “of the forty-two numbers here given by Ezra (vers. 3-60), as many as eighteen differ from the corresponding numbers in Nehemiah.” The chapter is a count that openly admits it is a copied count.

אַנְשֵׁ֖י’an·šêof the menH582

√ ʼĕnôwsh — a man in general (singly or collectively)Nounmasculine plural construct

עַ֥ם‘am. . .H5971

√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)Nounmasculine singular construct

יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃סyiś·rā·’êlof IsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“who they-came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. Number-of men-of people-of Israel:”

Where the English smooths the original

בָּ֣אוּ בָּאוּ (bā·’ū, Qal perfect third common plural of bôwʼ) is “they came,” a finite verb with the returnees as subject. BSB's “accompanied by” inverts the grammar and makes the eleven leaders the centre; in Hebrew the people come, and the leaders are the company they come with (עִם).
מִסְפָּ֥ר Two words in this one verse are written with the same three consonants: מִסְפָּר at index 10 is the man Mispar (H4558), and מִסְפַּר at index 14 is mispar, “number, count” (H4557). English prints “Mispar” and “the count” and the echo vanishes. Cambridge notes the A.V. mis-transliterated the name as “Mizpah.”
אַנְשֵׁ֖י עַ֥ם יִשְׂרָאֵֽל A triple construct chain, מִסְפַּר אַנְשֵׁי עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל, “count-of men-of people-of Israel.” The interlinear gives עַם only dots, because English cannot carry a third link. The chain matters: these are not simply men, but men belonging to a people belonging to Israel.

3

the descendants of Parosh, 2,172;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê p̄ar·‘ōš ’al·pa·yim mê·’āh šiḇ·‘îm ū·šə·nā·yim

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

bên: son, builder of the house The single most frequent word in this unit: it opens most of the sixty-five list entries. JFB and Poole both insist it means posterity here, not immediate children. Cambridge goes further and calls these the “titles of the families or clans,” taken from founders “many of them of great antiquity,” which is why the same names reappear eighty years later in Ezra 8 and 10.

פַרְעֹ֔שׁp̄ar·‘ōšof ParoshH6551

√ Parʻôsh — Parosh, the name of our IsraeliteNounproperfeminine singular

Parosh. Cambridge notes the name means a flea, and that branches of this house returned again with Ezra and later helped rebuild the wall.

אַלְפַּ֕יִם’al·pa·yim2,172H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermd

מֵאָ֖הmê·’āh. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine singular

שִׁבְעִ֥יםšiḇ·‘îm. . .H7657

√ shibʻîym — seventyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃סū·šə·nā·yim. . .H8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoConjunctive wawNumbermd

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Parosh: two-thousand hundred seventy and-two.”

Where the English smooths the original

בְּנֵ֣י בְּנֵי (bə·nê, construct plural of bên) is “sons of,” and Strong's glosses bên as “a son (as a builder of the family name).” BSB reads “descendants,” which is what JFB says the word means “throughout this catalogue,” but the English drops the building metaphor: a house is a thing sons construct by being counted.
אַלְפַּ֕יִם מֵאָ֖ה שִׁבְעִ֥ים וּשְׁנָֽיִם The single English token “2,172” is four Hebrew words laid end to end: ʼalpayim (dual, “two thousand”), mêʼâh (“hundred”), shiḇʻîm (“seventy”), ū·šənāyim (“and two”). The interlinear marks three of them with dots because they have no separate English word. Numbers in this chapter are spoken, not written as figures.
וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃ס The final character of the surface form is not part of the word: ס is the Masoretic setumah, a closed-section marker. Every entry in vv. 3 to 42 ends with one. The list was laid out as a formal document, ruled off item by item, before ever it was a chapter.

4

the descendants of Shephatiah, 372;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê šə·p̄aṭ·yāh šə·lōš mê·’ō·wṯ šiḇ·‘îm ū·šə·nā·yim

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

שְׁפַטְיָ֔הšə·p̄aṭ·yāhof ShephatiahH8203

√ Shᵉphaṭyâh — Shephatjah, the name of ten IsraelitesNounproperfeminine singular

Shᵉphaṭyâh: Yah has judged A theophoric house-name, one of many in this chapter (Delaiah, Hodaviah, Reelaiah, Jedaiah, Shemaiah-type forms). The register of a humiliated province is thick with names confessing that God governs, carried by families who had just lived through seventy years of evidence to the contrary.

שְׁלֹ֥שׁšə·lōš372H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeNumberfeminine singular construct

Feminine numeral with feminine plural noun; the counted item, not the counters, sets the form.

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

שִׁבְעִ֥יםšiḇ·‘îm. . .H7657

√ shibʻîym — seventyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃סū·šə·nā·yim. . .H8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoConjunctive wawNumbermd

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Shephatiah: three hundreds, seventy and-two.”

Where the English smooths the original

שְׁלֹ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שְׁלֹשׁ is parsed feminine singular construct while מֵאוֹת is feminine plural: literally “a three of hundreds.” Hebrew counts by binding the numeral to the counted noun, and English flattens both into the digit 3 in “372.”
שְׁפַטְיָ֔ה The name שְׁפַטְיָה (šə·p̄aṭ·yāh, H8203) is a sentence: Yah has judged. Rendered simply “Shephatiah,” it becomes a label. Strong's counts ten Israelites of the name, and one of them appears again in v. 57 among Solomon's servants, at the far end of the social ladder from this one.
בְּנֵ֣י Again בְּנֵי, “sons of,” not “the descendants of.” The register never varies its formula, and the monotony is the point: each house is entered in exactly the same words, so that the only thing distinguishing them is the name and the tally.

5

The Voices✦ 2 public domain

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

It is probable that all mentioned as belonging to this family repaired to the general place of rendezvous, or had enrolled their names at first as intending to go; but in the interval of preparation, some died, others were prevented by sickness or insurmountable obstacles, so that ultimately no more than six hundred fifty-two came to Jerusalem.

JFB's reconstruction is a harmonising conjecture, not a datum of the text; Ellicott, Barnes and Cambridge prefer scribal corruption of numerals.

source ↗

Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

It seems seven hundred and seventy-five marched out of Babylon, or gave in their names that they would go; but some of them died, others changed their minds, others were hindered by sickness, or other casualties, happening to themselves or near relations; and so there came only six hundred and fifty-two to Jerusalem. And the like is to be said in the like differences; which it suffices to hint once for all.

source ↗

the descendants of Arah, 775;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ’ā·raḥ šə·ḇa‘ mê·’ō·wṯ ḥă·miš·šāh wə·šiḇ·‘îm

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

אָרַ֔ח’ā·raḥof ArahH733

√ ʼÂrach — Arach, the name of three IsraelitesNounproperfeminine singular

Arah. The first of the eighteen numbers Pulpit counts as differing from Nehemiah 7.

שְׁבַ֥עšə·ḇa‘775H7651

√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Numberfeminine singular construct

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

חֲמִשָּׁ֥הḥă·miš·šāh. . .H2568

√ châmêsh — fiveNumbermasculine singular

châmêsh: five Masculine singular form standing with the feminine šəḇa‘ mê’ōwṯ preceding it; the mixed agreement is normal Hebrew arithmetic, not a textual fault.

וְשִׁבְעִֽים׃סwə·šiḇ·‘îm. . .H7657

√ shibʻîym — seventyConjunctive wawNumbercommon plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Arah: seven hundreds, five and-seventy.”

Where the English smooths the original

חֲמִשָּׁ֥ה וְשִׁבְעִֽים Hebrew here puts the unit before the ten, “five and-seventy,” where vv. 3 and 4 put the ten first. English regularises every such pair to “seventy-five.” The register preserves two different counting habits, more evidence it was copied from an older document rather than composed.
אָרַ֔ח אָרַח (H733) is the house whose number diverges most sharply from the parallel: 775 here against Nehemiah's 652. JFB and Poole both explain the gap by attrition on the road; Benson says the same. The Hebrew text itself offers no such explanation, and the divergence is a fact of the manuscripts, not of the verse.

6

the descendants of Pahath-moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab), 2,812;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- p̄a·ḥaṯ mō·w·’āḇ liḇ·nê yê·šū·a‘ yō·w·’āḇ ’al·pa·yim šə·mō·neh mê·’ō·wṯ ū·šə·nêm ‘ā·śār

Word by word11 · parsed

בְּנֵֽי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

פַחַ֥תp̄a·ḥaṯvvvH6355

√ Pachath Môwʼâb — Pachath-Moab, an Israelite

Pachath Môwʼâb: governor of Moab A house named for an administrative post held abroad. Cambridge connects it with 1 Chronicles 4:22, where men of Judah “had the dominion in Moab.” Of all the entries in this register, this one carries the longest institutional memory: a Judahite governorship over Moab, surviving as a family surname through the Babylonian exile.

מוֹאָ֛בmō·w·’āḇof Pahath-moabH6355

√ Pachath Môwʼâb — Pachath-Moab, an IsraeliteNounproperfeminine singular

לִבְנֵ֥יliḇ·nêthrough the lineH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcPreposition-lNounmasculine plural construct

יֵשׁ֖וּעַyê·šū·a‘of JeshuaH3442

√ Yêshûwaʻ — Jeshua, the name of ten Israelites, also of a place in PalestineNounpropermasculine singular

Jeshua here names a branch of the house, not the high priest of v. 2, though the two are spelled identically.

יוֹאָ֑בyō·w·’āḇand JoabH3097

√ Yôwʼâb — Joab, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

אַלְפַּ֕יִם’al·pa·yim2,812H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermd

שְׁמֹנֶ֥הšə·mō·neh. . .H8083

√ shᵉmôneh — a cardinal number, eight (as if a surplus above the 'perfect' seven)Numberfeminine singular

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

וּשְׁנֵ֥יםū·šə·nêm. . .H8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoConjunctive wawNumbermd

עָשָֽׂר׃ס‘ā·śār. . .H6240

√ ʻâsâr — ten (only in combination), iNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Pahath-Moab, belonging-to-sons-of Jeshua, Joab: two-thousand eight hundreds and-two ten.”

Where the English smooths the original

פַחַ֥ת מוֹאָ֛ב פַּחַת מוֹאָב is two words carrying one Strong's number (H6355), which is why the interlinear marks the first “vvv.” Cambridge: “Pahath = ruler of,” a term “commonly in use in Assyria,” so the house-name preserves a memory of Judahite dominion over Moabite territory. English keeps the sound and loses the office.
לִבְנֵ֥י יֵשׁ֖וּעַ יוֹאָ֑ב Literally “to-sons-of Jeshua, Joab,” with no conjunction between the two names. K&D notes that the copulative waw present in Nehemiah and 1 Esdras “is wanting” here, and Poole suggests reading a single compound, “Jeshua-Joab.” BSB's “through the line of Jeshua and Joab” silently supplies the missing “and.”
וּשְׁנֵ֥ים עָשָֽׂר The last two words are the teen-form, “two ten,” literally twelve, appended to “two thousand eight hundreds.” English writes 2,812 as one token; Hebrew builds the figure out of four separate pieces, each of which the Masoretes accented as a word in its own right.

7

the descendants of Elam, 1,254;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ‘ê·lām ’e·lep̄ mā·ṯa·yim ḥă·miš·šîm wə·’ar·bā·‘āh

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

עֵילָ֔ם‘ê·lāmof ElamH5867

√ ʻÊylâm — Elam, a son of Shem and his descendants, with their countryNounpropermasculine singular

ʻÊylâm: Elam Cambridge records the suggestion that this Elam is the Benjamite of 1 Chronicles 8:24 rather than the eastern nation. The register does not say, and the ambiguity is worth keeping: this chapter is full of names whose bearers we cannot place.

אֶ֕לֶף’e·lep̄1,254H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine singular

ʼeleph: thousand Singular where v. 3 had the dual; the same root can mean a clan or military unit elsewhere in Scripture, which is one reason large biblical numbers are contested.

מָאתַ֖יִםmā·ṯa·yim. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfd

חֲמִשִּׁ֥יםḥă·miš·šîm. . .H2572

√ chămishshîym — fiftyNumbercommon plural

וְאַרְבָּעָֽה׃סwə·’ar·bā·‘āh. . .H702

√ ʼarbaʻ — fourConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Elam: a-thousand, two-hundred fifty and-four.”

Where the English smooths the original

אֶ֕לֶף אֶלֶף (H505) is singular “a thousand,” not the dual ʼalpayim of v. 3. Strong's preserves the curiosity that the word is bound up with the ox's head, the first letter of the alphabet, and only later became a numeral. English “1,254” shows none of this.
עֵילָ֔ם עֵילָם (H5867) is Elam, “a son of Shem and his descendants, with their country,” that is, the region east of Babylon. A house of returning Judahites bears the name of the empire's neighbour. The same name and the identical figure 1,254 reappear at v. 31 as “the other Elam,” which Cambridge calls a text “not free from suspicion.”
מָאתַ֖יִם מָאתַיִם is the dual of mêʼâh, “a pair of hundreds.” Hebrew has a grammatical form for two and English has only a multiplier; the interlinear tags it “Number - fd” and gives it no gloss at all.

8

the descendants of Zattu, 945;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê zat·tū tə·ša‘ mê·’ō·wṯ wə·’ar·bā·‘îm wa·ḥă·miš·šāh

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

זַתּ֔וּאzat·tūof ZattuH2240

√ Zattûwʼ — Zattu, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Zattu. A house that reappears in Ezra 10:27 and Nehemiah 10:14; the clan outlasts the census.

תְּשַׁ֥עtə·ša‘945H8672

√ têshaʻ — nine or (ordinal) ninthNumberfeminine singular construct

têshaʻ: nine The only occurrence of this numeral in the people's list; it returns at v. 36 for the 973 priests of Jedaiah and at v. 58 for the 392 temple servants.

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

וְאַרְבָּעִ֥יםwə·’ar·bā·‘îm. . .H705

√ ʼarbâʻîym — fortyConjunctive wawNumbercommon plural

וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה׃סwa·ḥă·miš·šāh. . .H2568

√ châmêsh — fiveConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Zattu: nine hundreds and-forty and-five.”

Where the English smooths the original

תְּשַׁ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת תְּשַׁע is feminine singular construct bound to the feminine plural מֵאוֹת: “a nine of hundreds.” English writes 900 as a single idea; Hebrew states a relation between two counted things.
וְאַרְבָּעִ֥ים וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה Both tail words carry a conjunctive waw, “and-forty and-five,” so the number is spoken as a chain of additions. BSB's “945” compresses three Hebrew words and two conjunctions into three digits.
זַתּ֔וּא זַתּוּא (H2240) is one of the houses whose figure K&D tabulates as differing from Nehemiah (945 here, 845 there). Ellicott records that 1 Esdras sides with Ezra against Nehemiah at this point, and his rule is “where two out of the three agree, the reading should prevail over that of the third.”

9

the descendants of Zaccai, 760;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê zak·kāy šə·ḇa‘ mê·’ō·wṯ wə·šiš·šîm

Word by word5 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

זַכָּ֔יzak·kāyof ZaccaiH2140

√ Zakkay — Zakkai, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Zaccai. Nothing further is known of the house; Gill's honest formula for most of this chapter is that beyond family, ancestry, town and number, “nothing more of them is known.”

שְׁבַ֥עšə·ḇa‘760H7651

√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Numberfeminine singular construct

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

וְשִׁשִּֽׁים׃סwə·šiš·šîm. . .H8346

√ shishshîym — sixtyConjunctive wawNumbercommon plural

shishshîym: sixty A rounded ten with no unit appended, unusual in this register and worth noticing rather than smoothing.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Zaccai: seven hundreds and-sixty.”

Where the English smooths the original

וְשִׁשִּֽׁים The tally ends with a bare “and-sixty,” וְשִׁשִּׁים, with no unit digit following. Of the thirty-three entries in the people's list only three are round in this way (here, v. 32, v. 35). English “760” makes every figure look alike; Hebrew lets you hear which ones were rounded.
בְּנֵ֣י בְּנֵי again, construct plural of bên. K&D's tabulation shows that this word introduces two quite different kinds of entry in the same formula: houses through v. 19 and towns from v. 20. The Hebrew makes no distinction at all; only the names tell you which is which.
זַכָּ֔י זַכָּי (zak·kāy, H2140) is one of the few figures on which Ezra, Nehemiah and 1 Esdras agree exactly. The English digit conveys agreement and disagreement identically; only collation, not translation, can tell them apart.

10

the descendants of Bani, 642;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ḇā·nî šêš mê·’ō·wṯ ’ar·bā·‘îm ū·šə·nā·yim

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

בָנִ֔יḇā·nîof BaniH1137

√ Bânîy — Bani, the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Bânîy: Bani, built Ellicott records that 1 Esdras agrees with Nehemiah in making this house 648 against Ezra's 642; on his own collation rule the two-against-one reading should stand, which means the figure printed here is probably the faulty one. A register can be honest and inaccurate at once.

שֵׁ֥שׁšêš642H8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Numberfeminine singular

shêsh: six, overplus beyond the hand The numeral that opens vv. 10, 11, 13 and 26; the same word will count the six hundred and fifty-two of v. 60 who could prove nothing.

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

אַרְבָּעִ֥ים’ar·bā·‘îm. . .H705

√ ʼarbâʻîym — fortyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃סū·šə·nā·yim. . .H8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoConjunctive wawNumbermd

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Bani: six hundreds forty and-two.”

Where the English smooths the original

בָנִ֔י בָנִי (ḇā·nî, H1137) is spelled with the same root consonants as the formula word בְּנֵי that precedes it: “sons of Bani” is, at the level of the letters, sons of a name meaning built. English “Bani” hides the pun with the very word it stands beside. K&D notes Nehemiah writes the name Binnui.
שֵׁ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שֵׁשׁ, six, which Strong's glosses as “six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand),” bound to מֵאוֹת. The lexicon preserves the counting hand behind the numeral; the digit 6 does not.
אַרְבָּעִ֥ים וּשְׁנָֽיִם Here the ten precedes the unit, “forty and-two,” where v. 5 had unit before ten. The register does not normalise its own arithmetic style, another sign that it is a copied archive rather than a composition.

11

the descendants of Bebai, 623;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ḇê·ḇāy šêš mê·’ō·wṯ ‘eś·rîm ū·šə·lō·šāh

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

בֵבָ֔יḇê·ḇāyof BebaiH893

√ Bêbay — Bebai, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Bebai. The house appears again among those who had married foreign wives (Ezra 10) and among the sealers of Nehemiah's covenant, so the clan persisted for a century after this line was written.

שֵׁ֥שׁšêš623H8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Numberfeminine singular

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

עֶשְׂרִ֥ים‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁלֹשָֽׁה׃סū·šə·lō·šāh. . .H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

shâlôwsh: three The unit digit on which Ezra and 1 Esdras agree against Nehemiah at this entry.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Bebai: six hundreds twenty and-three.”

Where the English smooths the original

בֵבָ֔י בֵבָי (H893) is glossed in the lexicon simply as “Bebai, an Israelite,” with no etymology offered. Several names in this chapter are like that: the register preserves a word whose meaning was already lost, and preserves it anyway because the house was owed a line.
עֶשְׂרִ֥ים וּשְׁלֹשָֽׁה “Twenty and-three,” two words joined by waw. Ellicott notes that at this verse Ezra is confirmed by 1 Esdras against Nehemiah's 628. The difference between 623 and 628 is one Hebrew word, וּשְׁלֹשָׁה against a word for eight, which is exactly the kind of slip a copyist makes and a digit conceals.
בְּנֵ֣י The fixed formula בְּנֵי once more. Cambridge argues these are “not to be regarded as the names of the leading men of the various families who accompanied Zerubbabel, but as the titles of the families or clans,” so the English “descendants of Bebai” is right in substance and slightly wrong in shape: the name is the clan's title, not necessarily a man who walked the road.

12

the descendants of Azgad, 1,222;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ‘az·gāḏ ’e·lep̄ mā·ṯa·yim ‘eś·rîm ū·šə·nā·yim

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

עַזְגָּ֔ד‘az·gāḏof AzgadH5803

√ ʻAzgâd — Azgad, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Azgad. Part of this house returned again with Ezra (Ezra 8:12) and it is among the sealers of Nehemiah 10, so the clan is well attested even though its size here is not.

אֶ֕לֶף’e·lep̄1,222H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine singular

ʼeleph: thousand Cambridge's principle at this verse is worth recording as method: “The smallest figure is intrinsically the most probable. The highest figure, given in 1 Esdr., attempts to combine the two other readings.” That is textual criticism reasoning from scribal habit, not from theology.

מָאתַ֖יִםmā·ṯa·yim. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfd

עֶשְׂרִ֥ים‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃סū·šə·nā·yim. . .H8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoConjunctive wawNumbermd

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Azgad: a-thousand, two-hundred twenty and-two.”

Where the English smooths the original

אֶ֕לֶף אֶלֶף, “a thousand,” the word on which this entry's whole textual problem turns. Cambridge calls it “the most serious discrepancy in the list”: Nehemiah reads 2,322 and 1 Esdras 3,222, and the difference between one thousand and two is a single stroke in a numeral-letter system. The English digits give no hint that anything is in doubt.
עַזְגָּ֔ד עַזְגָּד (H5803) is rendered “Azgad” and left opaque; the lexicon offers no gloss. A house that may have numbered anywhere from twelve hundred to three thousand souls is recorded under a name whose meaning the tradition did not keep.
מָאתַ֖יִם Dual מָאתַיִם, “a pair of hundreds,” identical to v. 7 and v. 19. Where Hebrew has a dual, ancient copyists had a form that could be confused with the singular; the collapsing of such forms into Arabic figures makes the modern text look more certain than the manuscripts are.

13

the descendants of Adonikam, 666;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ’ă·ḏō·nî·qām šêš mê·’ō·wṯ šiš·šîm wə·šiš·šāh

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵי֙bə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

אֲדֹ֣נִיקָ֔ם’ă·ḏō·nî·qāmof AdonikamH140

√ ʼĂdônîyqâm — Adonikam, the name of one or two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

ʼĂdônîyqâm: my Lord has arisen Ellicott records that Nehemiah and 1 Esdras together “correct 666 into 667,” so on his own two-against-one rule the figure here is the minority reading. The number that is easiest to over-read in English is also, by the collation, the least secure in the list.

שֵׁ֥שׁšêš666H8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Numberfeminine singular

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

Hundreds: feminine plural, counted by the feminine singular construct šêš.

שִׁשִּׁ֥יםšiš·šîm. . .H8346

√ shishshîym — sixtyNumbercommon plural

וְשִׁשָּֽׁה׃סwə·šiš·šāh. . .H8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Conjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Adonikam: six hundreds sixty and-six.”

Where the English smooths the original

אֲדֹ֣נִיקָ֔ם אֲדֹנִיקָם (H140) is a confession of faith turned into a surname: my Lord has arisen. Cambridge notes the same house appears in Nehemiah 10:16 as Adonijah, my Lord is Yah. English keeps both as bare labels; in Hebrew the family is named after a sentence about God.
שִׁשִּׁ֥ים וְשִׁשָּֽׁה The ten and the unit are built from the same root here, שִׁשִּׁים וְשִׁשָּׁה, sixty and-six, and the assonance is audible in Hebrew. The figure 666 in English carries associations this verse cannot bear; the Hebrew carries only a repetition of the word for six.
בְּנֵי֙ The formula word here bears a different accent from its neighbours, the pashta rather than the munach seen in v. 12. The Masoretes accented every one of these sixty-odd identical words individually, which is its own witness to how seriously the list was handled.

14

the descendants of Bigvai, 2,056;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ḇiḡ·wāy ’al·pa·yim ḥă·miš·šîm wə·šiš·šāh

Word by word5 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

בִגְוָ֔יḇiḡ·wāyof BigvaiH902

√ Bigvay — Bigvai, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Bigvai. Part of the house returned later with Ezra; Cambridge lists it among the families of which “many members remained in Babylon.” That is the quiet fact behind the whole chapter: for every family counted here, kin stayed behind.

אַלְפַּ֖יִם’al·pa·yim2,056H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermd

ʼeleph (dual): two thousand Hebrew has no zero, so a figure with no hundreds is simply spoken with the hundreds omitted.

חֲמִשִּׁ֥יםḥă·miš·šîm. . .H2572

√ chămishshîym — fiftyNumbercommon plural

וְשִׁשָּֽׁה׃סwə·šiš·šāh. . .H8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Conjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Bigvai: two-thousand fifty and-six.”

Where the English smooths the original

בִגְוָ֔י בִגְוָי (H902) is Bigvai, the same name borne by one of the eleven leaders in v. 2. The register lists a man among the heads and a house among the clans under one spelling and does not distinguish them; the English cannot either, but the reader should not assume they are the same.
אַלְפַּ֖יִם Dual אַלְפַּיִם, two thousand, making this the third largest house in the list. No hundreds follow it at all: the figure runs “two thousand, fifty and six,” a shape English “2,056” reproduces with a zero, a device Hebrew does not possess.
חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים וְשִׁשָּֽׁה The tail, “fifty and-six.” Nehemiah reads 2,067 and 1 Esdras agrees with him; the divergence lies in these two small words, not in the thousands.

15

the descendants of Adin, 454;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ‘ā·ḏîn ’ar·ba‘ mê·’ō·wṯ ḥă·miš·šîm wə·’ar·bā·‘āh

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

עָדִ֔ין‘ā·ḏînof AdinH5720

√ ʻÂdîyn — Adin, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Adin. A house that also returned with Ezra (Ezra 8:6) and sealed Nehemiah's covenant; the clan is secure even where its tally is not.

אַרְבַּ֥ע’ar·ba‘454H702

√ ʼarbaʻ — fourNumberfeminine singular

ʼarbaʻ: four Appearing here in both the feminine construct and the masculine absolute within one verse, a small demonstration that Hebrew numerals inflect with what they count.

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

חֲמִשִּׁ֥יםḥă·miš·šîm. . .H2572

√ chămishshîym — fiftyNumbercommon plural

וְאַרְבָּעָֽה׃סwə·’ar·bā·‘āh. . .H702

√ ʼarbaʻ — fourConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Adin: four hundreds fifty and-four.”

Where the English smooths the original

עָדִ֔ין עָדִין (H5720) heads the entry with the second largest divergence in the list: 454 here against Nehemiah's 655. Ellicott notes Ezra is supported by 1 Esdras. The English digits are confident where the manuscripts are not.
אַרְבַּ֥ע אַרְבַּע, four, in the feminine singular form because it governs the feminine plural “hundreds”; the closing וְאַרְבָּעָה is masculine because it stands alone as a unit. One numeral, two forms, in a single verse, and the English “4” twice over.
מֵא֖וֹת מֵאוֹת, hundreds, is written identically in nearly every entry of this list and is left unglossed in the interlinear each time. Its very invisibility is a translation fact: the most repeated noun in the chapter has no English word of its own.

16

the descendants of Ater (through Hezekiah), 98;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- ’ā·ṭêr lî·ḥiz·qî·yāh tiš·‘îm ū·šə·mō·nāh

Word by word5 · parsed

בְּנֵֽי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

אָטֵ֥ר’ā·ṭêrof AterH333

√ ʼÂṭêr — Ater, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

לִֽיחִזְקִיָּ֖הlî·ḥiz·qî·yāhthrough HezekiahH3169

√ Yᵉchizqîyâh — Jechizkijah, the name of five IsraelitesPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

Yᵉchizqîyâh: Yah has strengthened Poole is careful that this Hezekiah is “not the king, but another famous person so called,” and Geneva that these were “of the posterity of Hezekiah.” The register's habit of naming a house and then narrowing it to a branch (v. 6, here, v. 36, v. 40) is the genealogical technique on which the whole chapter's credibility rests.

תִּשְׁעִ֥יםtiš·‘îm98H8673

√ tishʻîym — ninetyNumbercommon plural

tishʻîym: ninety Also the opening numeral of v. 20's ninety-five; small houses cluster in this stretch of the list.

וּשְׁמֹנָֽה׃סū·šə·mō·nāh. . .H8083

√ shᵉmôneh — a cardinal number, eight (as if a surplus above the 'perfect' seven)Conjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Ater, belonging-to-Hezekiah: ninety and-eight.”

Where the English smooths the original

לִֽיחִזְקִיָּ֖ה The preposition lə prefixed to יְחִזְקִיָּה gives “to Hezekiah,” exactly the construction of v. 6 and v. 36. Cambridge reads it as a limitation: “the family of Ater was represented by one branch called by the name of Hezekiah.” BSB's “through Hezekiah” supplies a genealogical direction the little lamed does not state.
אָטֵ֥ר אָטֵר (H333) recurs in v. 42 as a house of gatekeepers. Strong's counts three Israelites of the name, and the register itself lists two Aters in one chapter without comment, which is precisely why v. 62's search of the genealogical book was necessary: names alone did not settle a claim.
תִּשְׁעִ֥ים וּשְׁמֹנָֽה Ninety and-eight, with no hundreds at all: the smallest house in the whole people's list except Azmaveth's forty-two. The three witnesses agree on this figure exactly, which is worth as much notice as the places where they do not.

17

the descendants of Bezai, 323;

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ḇê·ṣāy šə·lōš mê·’ō·wṯ ‘eś·rîm ū·šə·lō·šāh

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

בֵצָ֔יḇê·ṣāyof BezaiH1209

√ Bêtsay — Betsai, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Bezai. The house sealed Nehemiah's covenant; nothing else is known of it.

שְׁלֹ֥שׁšə·lōš323H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeNumberfeminine singular construct

shâlôwsh: three The construct form binds the numeral to what it counts, which is why the same word can be glossed “372,” “323,” “345” or “392” in this chapter depending on what follows it.

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

עֶשְׂרִ֥ים‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁלֹשָֽׁה׃סū·šə·lō·šāh. . .H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Bezai: three hundreds twenty and-three.”

Where the English smooths the original

בֵצָ֔י בֵצָי (H1209) stands here at a point where the two copies do not even agree on order. K&D records that Bezai, Jorah and Hashum appear in Nehemiah as Hashum, Bezai and Hariph. The English gives a sequence; the manuscripts give two sequences.
שְׁלֹ֥שׁ שְׁלֹשׁ in feminine singular construct governing “hundreds,” while the closing וּשְׁלֹשָׁה is the masculine unit three. As in v. 15, one numeral twice in two shapes, both printed as the same digit.
עֶשְׂרִ֥ים עֶשְׂרִים, twenty, plural in form (literally something like “tens”). Ellicott notes Ezra is confirmed by 1 Esdras here against Nehemiah's 324, so the last word of the verse is the disputed one.

18

the descendants of Jorah, 112;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê yō·w·rāh mê·’āh ū·šə·nêm ‘ā·śār

Word by word5 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

יוֹרָ֔הyō·w·rāhof JorahH3139

√ Yôwrâh — Jorah, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Yôwrâh: autumn rain If Cambridge and K&D are right that Jorah and Hariph are the same house under two words for the same season, then the variation is not corruption but synonym, and one scribe has translated where another transliterated. The register's variants are not all of one kind.

מֵאָ֖הmê·’āh112H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine singular

וּשְׁנֵ֥יםū·šə·nêm. . .H8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoConjunctive wawNumbermd

עָשָֽׂר׃ס‘ā·śār. . .H6240

√ ʻâsâr — ten (only in combination), iNumbermasculine singular

ʻâsâr: ten, only in combination The bound form used for the teens; it recurs at v. 6 and v. 39.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Jorah: a-hundred and-two ten.”

Where the English smooths the original

יוֹרָ֔ה יוֹרָה (H3139) is the house Nehemiah calls Hariph. Cambridge finds the exchange strange precisely because both words mean something: “the Hebrew word ‘Joreh’ means ‘autumn-rain’ while the Hebrew ‘Horeph’ means ‘the autumn-season’.” K&D makes the same observation. English “Jorah” carries neither rain nor season.
מֵאָ֖ה מֵאָה in the singular absolute, “a hundred,” not the plural mêʼôṯ of the neighbouring verses. Hebrew distinguishes one hundred from several; English writes 1 in the hundreds column either way.
וּשְׁנֵ֥ים עָשָֽׂר The teen construction, literally “and-two ten,” for twelve. The interlinear leaves עָשָׂר unglossed because English fuses the pair into one word. Strong's notes ʻâsâr occurs “only in combination,” a numeral that cannot stand alone.

19

the descendants of Hashum, 223;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ḥā·šum mā·ṯa·yim ‘eś·rîm ū·šə·lō·šāh

Word by word5 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חָשֻׁ֔םḥā·šumof HashumH2828

√ Châshum — Chashum, the name of two or three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Hashum. The house appears in Ezra 10:33 among those with foreign wives and in Nehemiah 8:4 beside Ezra at the reading of the Law; a clan whose worst and best moments are both recorded.

מָאתַ֖יִםmā·ṯa·yim223H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfd

mêʼâh (dual): two hundred One of three entries in this list where the itemised figures of Ezra and Nehemiah differ by a full hundred, which is why Barnes suspects a damaged original.

עֶשְׂרִ֥ים‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁלֹשָֽׁה׃סū·šə·lō·šāh. . .H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Hashum: two-hundred twenty and-three.”

Where the English smooths the original

חָשֻׁ֔ם חָשֻׁם (H2828), of which Strong's says only “Hashum, the name of two or three Israelites,” admitting that the lexicon itself cannot count the bearers. The register is more certain about the house than the dictionary is about the name.
מָאתַ֖יִם Dual מָאתַיִם, two hundred. K&D's table records Nehemiah's figure for this house as 328 against Ezra's 223, a divergence of a hundred and five, and the dual is the word at issue.
עֶשְׂרִ֥ים וּשְׁלֹשָֽׁה “Twenty and-three,” the same two words that close v. 17 and v. 28. Three separate houses in this chapter end with an identical Hebrew phrase, and each time the English prints a different composite digit.

20

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

The children of Beth-lehem — The remainders of the inhabitants of that city: so little was Beth-lehem among the thousands of Judah! Yet thence must the Messiah arise.

Benson's comment covers vv. 20 and 21 together, which is why the Bethlehem sentence stands filed at this verse in the sources.

source ↗

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The writer at this point passes from persons to places, making the latter portion of his list topographical.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

the famous scene of Joshua’s victory (Joshua , 10), of the battle between David’s and Ishbosheth’s men (2 Samuel 2), of Joab’s murder of Amasa ( 2 Samuel 20:8 ), the abode of the tabernacle ( 1 Kings 3:4 ; 1 Chronicles 16:39 ; 1 Chronicles 21:29 ; 2 Chronicles 1:3 ), the high-place at which the Lord appeared unto Solomon in a dream ( 1 Kings 3:4 ). The false prophet Hananiah ( Jeremiah 28:1 ) came from Gibeon. The modern ‘El-Jib,’ distant about 5 miles N.W. from Jerusalem, in the territory of Benjamin.

source ↗

the descendants of Gibbar, 95;

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ḡib·bār tiš·‘îm wa·ḥă·miš·šāh

Word by word4 · parsed

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

גִבָּ֖רḡib·bārof GibbarH1402

√ Gibbâr — Gibbar, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Gibbâr: Gibbar, probably for Gibeon Cambridge's history of the place is worth the whole note: Joshua's great victory, the fight between David's men and Ishbosheth's, Joab's murder of Amasa, the resting place of the tabernacle, and the high place where God met Solomon. Ninety-five men came back to it. ⚙ If the reading Gibeon is right, then the Gibeonites of Joshua 9 and the town of Gibeon both appear in this chapter, one possibly among the Nethinim of vv. 43 to 54 and one certainly here.

תִּשְׁעִ֥יםtiš·‘îm95H8673

√ tishʻîym — ninetyNumbercommon plural

tishʻîym: ninety The lowest opening numeral so far; from here the tallies of the towns run consistently smaller than those of the houses, as Cambridge observes.

וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה׃סwa·ḥă·miš·šāh. . .H2568

√ châmêsh — fiveConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Gibbar: ninety and-five.”

Where the English smooths the original

גִבָּ֖ר גִבָּר (H1402) is given in the lexicon as a man, “Gibbar, an Israelite,” but Nehemiah 7:25 reads Gibeon, and Benson, Cambridge, Pulpit and K&D all judge the town to be correct: “not the name of a man, but of a place.” The single English word “Gibbar” conceals the hinge of the whole register, the point where it stops listing blood and starts listing ground.
בְּנֵ֥י בְּנֵי now means townsmen, not offspring. Geneva states the rule: the word “signifies inhabitants” when joined with the names of places. BSB shifts to “the men of” only at v. 22, though the Hebrew formula never changes at all.
תִּשְׁעִ֥ים וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה “Ninety and-five,” with no hundreds: ninety-five men from the town where the tabernacle once stood and where the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. The bareness of the figure is the theological content of the verse, and English renders it as accurately and as flatly as Hebrew does.

21

the men of Bethlehem, 123;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ḇêṯ- lā·ḥem mê·’āh ‘eś·rîm ū·šə·lō·šāh

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe menH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

Sons of, here meaning townsmen.

בֵֽית־ḇêṯ-vvvH1035

√ Bêyth Lechem — Beth-Lechem, a place in PalestinePreposition

לָ֔חֶםlā·ḥemof BethlehemH1035

√ Bêyth Lechem — Beth-Lechem, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Bêyth Lechem: house of bread Cambridge gathers what the name carried: the story of Ruth, the home of Ibzan the judge, the birthplace of David and of the sons of Zeruiah, a village whose earlier name Ephrath also meant plenty, and the town of Micah's prophecy whose literal fulfilment Matthew and Luke record. Benson, commenting a verse earlier, says the arithmetic out loud: “so little was Beth-lehem among the thousands of Judah! Yet thence must the Messiah arise.”

מֵאָ֖הmê·’āh123H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine singular

עֶשְׂרִ֥ים‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁלֹשָֽׁה׃סū·šə·lō·šāh. . .H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Beth-Lehem: a-hundred twenty and-three.”

Where the English smooths the original

בֵֽית־לָ֔חֶם Two words under one Strong's number (H1035), which is why the interlinear marks the first “vvv”: בֵּית לָחֶם is “house of bread,” and Cambridge says the name “implies the fruitfulness of the soil.” English “Bethlehem” is a sound with no meaning left in it.
בְּנֵ֣י BSB renders בְּנֵי here as “the men of,” quietly changing its policy from v. 20. Geneva states the reason as a rule of the language: joined with place names the word “signifies inhabitants.” The Hebrew has not changed a letter; the translation has.
מֵאָ֖ה עֶשְׂרִ֥ים וּשְׁלֹשָֽׁה A hundred twenty and-three, three words for the entire surviving stock of David's town. Nehemiah counts Bethlehem and Netophah together as 188; Ezra keeps them apart at 123 and 56. Even this number is transmitted two ways.

22

the men of Netophah, 56;

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’an·šê nə·ṭō·p̄āh ḥă·miš·šîm wə·šiš·šāh

Word by word4 · parsed

אַנְשֵׁ֥י’an·šêthe menH582

√ ʼĕnôwsh — a man in general (singly or collectively)Nounmasculine plural construct

ʼĕnôwsh: man, mankind The word chosen here, and again at vv. 23, 27 and 28, is the collective term for humanity rather than the household word bên. ⚙ It may be no more than a copyist's variation, but as the text stands the towns of Benjamin are entered as populations of men while the clans are entered as sons of a father, and the difference is visible only in Hebrew.

נְטֹפָ֖הnə·ṭō·p̄āhof NetophahH5199

√ Nᵉṭôphâh — Netophah, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Netophah, placed by Cambridge just south of Jerusalem on the Bethlehem road.

חֲמִשִּׁ֥יםḥă·miš·šîm56H2572

√ chămishshîym — fiftyNumbercommon plural

וְשִׁשָּֽׁה׃wə·šiš·šāh. . .H8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Conjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Men-of Netophah: fifty and-six.”

Where the English smooths the original

אַנְשֵׁ֥י The formula changes for the first time in the list: not בְּנֵי but אַנְשֵׁי (ʼan·šê, construct plural of ʼĕnôwsh, H582, “a man in general, singly or collectively”). English prints “the men of” at v. 21 and v. 22 alike and so erases the one place where the Hebrew itself shifts.
נְטֹפָ֖ה נְטֹפָה (H5199), which Cambridge identifies from 1 Chronicles 9:16 as a town inhabited by priests and the home of two of David's warriors. The English name preserves none of that and the verse says none of it; the tally of fifty-six is all the text gives.
חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים וְשִׁשָּֽׁה “Fifty and-six,” the smallest tally but one in the whole chapter's lay list. This verse has no hundreds and no thousands: four Hebrew words in total, of which two are the number.

23

The Voices✦ 2 public domain

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

The men of Anathoth—It is pleasant to see so many of this Jewish town returning. It was a city of the Levites; but the people spurned Jeremiah's warning and called forth against themselves one of his severest predictions (Jer 32:27-35). This prophecy was fulfilled in the Assyrian conquest. Anathoth was laid waste and continued a heap of ruins. But the people, having been brought during the captivity to a better state of mind, returned, and their city was rebuilt.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

One of the towns assigned to the priests ( Joshua 21:18 ; 1 Chronicles 6:60 ), the dwelling-place of Abiathar the high-priest ( 1 Kings 2:26 ) and of the prophet Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 1:1 ; Jeremiah 29:27 ). See Isaiah 10:28 ; Isaiah 10:30 . It is situated about 4 miles N.E. of Jerusalem, the modern Anata

source ↗

the men of Anathoth, 128;

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’an·šê ‘ă·nā·ṯō·wṯ mê·’āh ‘eś·rîm ū·šə·mō·nāh

Word by word5 · parsed

אַנְשֵׁ֣י’an·šêthe menH582

√ ʼĕnôwsh — a man in general (singly or collectively)Nounmasculine plural construct

עֲנָת֔וֹת‘ă·nā·ṯō·wṯof AnathothH6068

√ ʻĂnâthôwth — Anathoth, the name of two Israelites, also of a place in PalNounproperfeminine singular

ʻĂnâthôwth: Anathoth Jeremiah bought a field here while the Babylonian army stood outside Jerusalem, on the word that houses and fields would again be bought in this land. ⚙ One hundred and twenty-eight men of Anathoth walking back up from Babylon is that purchase maturing, and neither Ezra nor the commentators in the brief press the point; JFB comes nearest, noting only that the city “was laid waste and continued a heap of ruins” before its people returned and rebuilt it.

מֵאָ֖הmê·’āh128H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine singular

A hundred, singular absolute.

עֶשְׂרִ֥ים‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁמֹנָֽה׃סū·šə·mō·nāh. . .H8083

√ shᵉmôneh — a cardinal number, eight (as if a surplus above the 'perfect' seven)Conjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Men-of Anathoth: a-hundred twenty and-eight.”

Where the English smooths the original

עֲנָת֔וֹת עֲנָתוֹת (H6068) is plural in form, and Cambridge draws the inference: “The name shows that the place in prehistoric times was a centre for the worship of the goddess Anath or Anta.” The town of Jeremiah and of Abiathar carries a Canaanite goddess in its name, and the English transliteration says nothing.
אַנְשֵׁ֣י אַנְשֵׁי again rather than bənê. JFB reads the entry with feeling: “It is pleasant to see so many of this Jewish town returning,” a town whose people had spurned Jeremiah's warning and seen his sentence executed.
מֵאָ֖ה עֶשְׂרִ֥ים וּשְׁמֹנָֽה A hundred twenty and-eight, identical in wording to the number of Asaph's singers in v. 41. The same three Hebrew words count Jeremiah's neighbours and the temple choir.

24

the descendants of Azmaveth, 42;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ‘az·mā·weṯ ’ar·bā·‘îm ū·šə·nā·yim

Word by word4 · parsed

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

עַזְמָ֖וֶת‘az·mā·weṯof AzmavethH5820

√ ʻAzmâveth — Azmaveth, the name of three Israelites and of a place in PalestineNounpropermasculine singular

Azmaveth. Cambridge notes the name also stands in the Benjamite register of 1 Chronicles 8:36 and has been conjecturally located north of Anathoth. Forty-two men is a village, and the register does not round it up.

אַרְבָּעִ֥ים’ar·bā·‘îm42H705

√ ʼarbâʻîym — fortyNumbercommon plural

ʼarbâʻîym: forty The number of the wilderness years, used here with no comment at all.

וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃סū·šə·nā·yim. . .H8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoConjunctive wawNumbermd

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Azmaveth: forty and-two.”

Where the English smooths the original

עַזְמָ֖וֶת עַזְמָוֶת (H5820), of which Strong's says “the name of three Israelites and of a place in Palestine.” Nehemiah 7:28 reads Beth-azmaveth, house of Azmaveth, settling it as a town; K&D notes the difference. The English keeps Ezra's shorter form and with it Ezra's ambiguity.
אַרְבָּעִ֥ים וּשְׁנָֽיִם Forty and-two: the smallest entry in the entire register. Four Hebrew words make the whole verse. The same three witnesses that cannot agree on Azgad's thousands agree exactly on these forty-two.
בְּנֵ֥י בְּנֵי, back again after two verses of ʼanšê. The register alternates its two formulae with no discernible rule, and BSB alternates “descendants” and “men,” which makes the English look systematic where the Hebrew is not.

25

the men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743;

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê qir·yaṯ ‘ā·rîm kə·p̄î·rāh ū·ḇə·’ê·rō·wṯ šə·ḇa‘ mê·’ō·wṯ wə·’ar·bā·‘îm ū·šə·lō·šāh

Word by word9 · parsed

בְּנֵ֨יbə·nêthe menH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

קִרְיַ֤תqir·yaṯvvvH7157

√ Qiryath Yᵉʻârîym — Kirjath-Jearim or Kirjath-Arim, a place in Palestine

עָרִים֙‘ā·rîmof Kiriath-jearimH7157

√ Qiryath Yᵉʻârîym — Kirjath-Jearim or Kirjath-Arim, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Qiryath Yᵉʻârîym: city of forests Cambridge: “The ark rested here after it had been restored by the Philistines, and David brought it from here to Jerusalem.” ⚙ Seven hundred and forty-three men return to the towns that once housed the ark, at a moment when there is no ark to house, and v. 63 will record that the oracle bound to its mercy-seat is likewise gone. The register never connects the two facts; it only preserves both.

כְּפִירָ֣הkə·p̄î·rāhChephirahH3716

√ Kᵉphîyrâh — Kephirah, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Chephirah, a Gibeonite town of Joshua 9:17 according to Cambridge.

וּבְאֵר֔וֹתū·ḇə·’ê·rō·wṯand BeerothH881

√ Bᵉʼêrôwth — Beeroth, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

שְׁבַ֥עšə·ḇa‘743H7651

√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Numberfeminine singular construct

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

וְאַרְבָּעִ֥יםwə·’ar·bā·‘îm. . .H705

√ ʼarbâʻîym — fortyConjunctive wawNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁלֹשָֽׁה׃סū·šə·lō·šāh. . .H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Kiriath-Arim, Chephirah and-Beeroth: seven hundreds and-forty and-three.”

Where the English smooths the original

קִרְיַ֤ת עָרִים֙ Two words, one Strong's number (H7157), and a textual crux: the Hebrew here reads קִרְיַת עָרִים, city of cities, where Nehemiah 7:29 has קִרְיַת יְעָרִים, city of forests. K&D calls Nehemiah's “the more correct form” and Cambridge blames “an early error in the text.” BSB prints the corrected “Kiriath-jearim” and the error disappears.
וּבְאֵר֔וֹת וּבְאֵרוֹת (H881) means simply “wells,” a plural common noun serving as a town name. Three settlements share one tally here, which they do nowhere else in the list except v. 33; the grouping is itself a datum about how the register was compiled.
שְׁבַ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת Seven hundreds, the largest of the town entries so far and one on which all three witnesses agree exactly at 743. Where the register lists towns together it seems to have been copied more securely than where it lists clans.

26

the men of Ramah and Geba, 621;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê hā·rā·māh wā·ḡā·ḇa‘ šêš mê·’ō·wṯ ‘eś·rîm wə·’e·ḥāḏ

Word by word7 · parsed

בְּנֵ֤יbə·nêthe menH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

הָרָמָה֙hā·rā·māhof RamahH7414

√ Râmâh — Ramah, the name of four places in PalestineArticleNounproperfeminine singular

Râmâh: the height Samuel's home, later a border fortress between north and south, and the place where Jeremiah heard weeping. Six hundred and twenty-one men return to it and to Geba together.

וָגָ֔בַעwā·ḡā·ḇa‘and GebaH1387

√ Gebaʻ — Geba, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

שֵׁ֥שׁšêš621H8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Numberfeminine singular

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

עֶשְׂרִ֥ים‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural

וְאֶחָֽד׃סwə·’e·ḥāḏ. . .H259

√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

ʼechâd: one, united The same lexeme that in v. 64 makes the whole congregation “as one.” ⚙ The register that ends with the assembly counted as a single body has, buried in the towns, one entry that ends on the word for one.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of the-Ramah and-Geba: six hundreds twenty and-one.”

Where the English smooths the original

הָרָמָה֙ הָרָמָה carries the article: “the Ramah,” because the word is a common noun meaning the height. English proper-noun capitalisation removes the article and with it the sense that the town was called The Hill. Cambridge names it the dwelling place of Samuel.
וְאֶחָֽד The verse closes on וְאֶחָד, “and-one,” from ʼechâd, which Strong's glosses “properly, united.” It is the only entry in the list ending in a single unit, and the word for that unit is the word Israel uses for the oneness of God and, at v. 64, for the whole assembly reckoned as one.
וָגָ֔בַע וָגָבַע (H1387), Geba, which Cambridge identifies as a priestly town on the frontier between the two kingdoms, fortified by Asa with stone taken from Ramah. Two towns once set against each other by a king are entered here on one line with one number.

27

the men of Michmash, 122;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’an·šê miḵ·mās mê·’āh ‘eś·rîm ū·šə·nā·yim

Word by word5 · parsed

אַנְשֵׁ֣י’an·šêthe menH582

√ ʼĕnôwsh — a man in general (singly or collectively)Nounmasculine plural construct

Men of, the collective formula.

מִכְמָ֔סmiḵ·māsof MichmashH4363

√ Mikmâç — Mikmas or Mikmash, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Mikmâç: Michmash The strong place above the gorge. Cambridge quotes Isaiah 10:28-29 for the topography: “At Michmash he layeth up his baggage: they are gone over the pass; they have taken up their lodging at Geba: Ramah trembleth.” ⚙ Ezra's list walks the same road in the opposite direction, and the towns Isaiah named as the invader's stages are entered here as the returnees' addresses.

מֵאָ֖הmê·’āh122H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine singular

עֶשְׂרִ֥ים‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃סū·šə·nā·yim. . .H8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoConjunctive wawNumbermd

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Men-of Michmas: a-hundred twenty and-two.”

Where the English smooths the original

מִכְמָ֔ס מִכְמָס (H4363), which the lexicon gives as “Mikmas or Mikmash.” BSB standardises to Michmash, the fuller form used elsewhere in Scripture; Ezra's spelling is the shorter one, and the choice of form is the translator's.
אַנְשֵׁ֣י אַנְשֵׁי, men of, for the third time in this stretch. Cambridge's geography explains the cluster: Michmash, Geba, Ramah, Bethel, Ai and Anathoth are the towns of the pass north of Jerusalem, and the register seems to have taken them from a source that used this formula.
מֵאָ֖ה עֶשְׂרִ֥ים וּשְׁנָֽיִם A hundred twenty and-two. Cambridge notes that this is the pass where Jonathan broke the Philistines and where Isaiah's Assyrian invader lays up his baggage; the verse records neither, only the count.

28

the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’an·šê ḇêṯ- ’êl wə·hā·‘āy mā·ṯa·yim ‘eś·rîm ū·šə·lō·šāh

Word by word7 · parsed

אַנְשֵׁ֤י’an·šêthe menH582

√ ʼĕnôwsh — a man in general (singly or collectively)Nounmasculine plural construct

בֵֽית־ḇêṯ-ofH1008

√ Bêyth-ʼÊl — Beth-El, a place in PalestinePreposition

אֵל֙’êlBethelH1008

√ Bêyth-ʼÊl — Beth-El, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Bêyth-ʼÊl: house of God Jacob's stone and ladder, Samuel's circuit, a school of the prophets, then Jeroboam's calf and Josiah's demolition. ⚙ Two hundred and twenty-three men come home to a place whose name is a confession and whose history is an indictment, and the register neither celebrates nor condemns them.

וְהָעָ֔יwə·hā·‘āyand AiH5857

√ ʻAy — Ai, Aja or Ajath, a place in PalestineConjunctive waw, ArticleNounproperfeminine singular

ʻAy: the heap of ruins Destroyed by Joshua, rebuilt, and still called Ruins when its sons are counted here.

מָאתַ֖יִםmā·ṯa·yim223H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfd

עֶשְׂרִ֥ים‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁלֹשָֽׁה׃סū·šə·lō·šāh. . .H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Men-of Beth-El and-the-Ai: two-hundred twenty and-three.”

Where the English smooths the original

בֵֽית־אֵל֙ Two words, one number (H1008): בֵּית אֵל, house of God. Cambridge records that Jeroboam made it the southern sanctuary of the calf worship, so that “thenceforth its name chiefly occurs in connexion with the sins of idolatry.” The English name still means house of God to no one who reads it.
וְהָעָ֔י וְהָעָי keeps the article, “and the-Ai,” because Cambridge says the name “denotes ‘ruinous heaps’.” The town Joshua burned is entered in the roll of the restoration under its own name for rubble, with the article still attached.
מָאתַ֖יִם עֶשְׂרִ֥ים וּשְׁלֹשָֽׁה Two hundred twenty and-three here, a hundred and twenty-three in Nehemiah 7:32. The difference is one word, the dual māṯayim against a singular mêʼâh, and the digits give no clue which is original.

29

the descendants of Nebo, 52;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê nə·ḇōw ḥă·miš·šîm ū·šə·nā·yim

Word by word4 · parsed

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

נְב֖וֹnə·ḇōwof NeboH5015

√ Nᵉbôw — Nebo, the name of a Babylonian deity, also of a mountain in Moab, and of a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Nᵉbôw: Nebo Cambridge weighs an identification with Nob, the priestly town, on the ground that Nob appears in the lists where Nebo does not, and admits the site remains uncertain. ⚙ The register of a people returning from Babylon contains, without any remark, a Judahite village bearing a Babylonian god's name, just as it contains a family of Nethinim named Sisera (v. 53).

חֲמִשִּׁ֥יםḥă·miš·šîm52H2572

√ chămishshîym — fiftyNumbercommon plural

chămishshîym: fifty The tally; one of the four smallest in the list.

וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃סū·šə·nā·yim. . .H8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoConjunctive wawNumbermd

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Nebo: fifty and-two.”

Where the English smooths the original

נְב֖וֹ נְבוֹ (H5015), which Strong's identifies first as “the name of a Babylonian deity,” then a mountain in Moab, then a place in Palestine. Cambridge concludes the town name “perhaps indicates that in a prehistoric time the worship of this god was maintained here.” The English “Nebo” carries the god's name into the roll of the returned without comment.
חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים וּשְׁנָֽיִם Fifty and-two, a four-word verse. Nehemiah 7:33 calls this place “the other Nebo,” which K&D judges an inadvertent insertion carried over from the “other Elam” two lines later; the English of Ezra shows no trace of the problem.
בְּנֵ֥י בְּנֵי with a place name again, so “sons of Nebo” means townsmen of Nebo. The formula that elsewhere in Scripture makes a man a son of his father here makes him a son of a hill named for Marduk's scribe.

30

the descendants of Magbish, 156;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê maḡ·bîš mê·’āh ḥă·miš·šîm wə·šiš·šāh

Word by word5 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

מַגְבִּ֔ישׁmaḡ·bîšof MagbishH4019

√ Magbîysh — Magbish, an Israelite, or a place in PalestineNounpropermasculine singular

Magbîysh: Magbish K&D places it among the three entries (Magbish, the other Elam, Harim) that interrupt the run of town names and reads Harim and probably Magbish as persons rather than places. Cambridge presumes a town in Benjamin. ⚙ Neither can be verified: this is the one house in the chapter that exists in a single line of transmission, and the honest note is that we do not know what it was.

מֵאָ֖הmê·’āh156H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine singular

A hundred, singular absolute.

חֲמִשִּׁ֥יםḥă·miš·šîm. . .H2572

√ chămishshîym — fiftyNumbercommon plural

וְשִׁשָּֽׁה׃סwə·šiš·šāh. . .H8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Conjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Magbish: a-hundred fifty and-six.”

Where the English smooths the original

מַגְבִּ֔ישׁ מַגְבִּישׁ (H4019) is glossed in the lexicon as “Magbish, an Israelite, or a place in Palestine,” the dictionary declining to choose. Cambridge is blunter: “The name of this place is omitted in the parallel passages and does not occur elsewhere.” This is the only entry in the chapter with no parallel anywhere.
מֵאָ֖ה חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים וְשִׁשָּֽׁה A hundred fifty and-six. Because Nehemiah 7 lacks this house entirely, K&D's columns differ by exactly this figure at this point. The English digits are the sole witness in one manuscript tradition to a hundred and fifty-six people.
בְּנֵ֣י The same formula as every other entry, which is why the omission is invisible in Nehemiah: nothing in the wording marks this line as unusual. Only collation finds it.

31

the descendants of the other Elam, 1,254;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ’a·ḥêr ‘ê·lām ’e·lep̄ mā·ṯa·yim ḥă·miš·šîm wə·’ar·bā·‘āh

Word by word7 · parsed

בְּנֵי֙bə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

אַחֵ֔ר’a·ḥêrof the otherH312

√ ʼachêr — properly, hinderAdjectivemasculine singular

ʼachêr: other, hinder ⚙ On the reading Cambridge finds most probable, this whole verse is an accidental second copy of v. 7, with a scribe's word “other” inserted to account for the doubling. If so, the chapter preserves not only its variants but one of its own duplications, and the total of v. 64 was computed over a list that already contained it.

עֵילָ֣ם‘ê·lāmElamH5867

√ ʻÊylâm — Elam, a son of Shem and his descendants, with their countryNounpropermasculine singular

אֶ֕לֶף’e·lep̄1,254H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine singular

ʼeleph: thousand Identical to v. 7 in form and figure.

מָאתַ֖יִםmā·ṯa·yim. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfd

חֲמִשִּׁ֥יםḥă·miš·šîm. . .H2572

√ chămishshîym — fiftyNumbercommon plural

וְאַרְבָּעָֽה׃סwə·’ar·bā·‘āh. . .H702

√ ʼarbaʻ — fourConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of the-other Elam: a-thousand, two-hundred fifty and-four.”

Where the English smooths the original

אַחֵ֔ר אַחֵר (H312), which Strong's glosses “properly, hinder,” hence another. Hebrew word order is “sons-of another Elam,” with the adjective standing before the name, and BSB's “the other Elam” supplies an article the Hebrew does not have. Cambridge calls the expression “very strange.”
עֵילָ֣ם עֵילָם is the same name as v. 7, with the same figure to the digit. Cambridge notes both the odd adjective and “the exact correspondence of the numbers in each case, i.e. 1254,” and concludes: “The text is not free from suspicion.” The English reproduces the duplication faithfully and silently.
אֶ֕לֶף מָאתַ֖יִם חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים וְאַרְבָּעָֽה Four words repeating v. 7 exactly: thousand, pair-of-hundreds, fifty, and-four. In Hebrew the repetition is visible on the page as four identical words; in English it is visible only as a repeated figure.

32

the descendants of Harim, 320;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ḥā·rim šə·lōš mê·’ō·wṯ wə·‘eś·rîm

Word by word5 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חָרִ֔םḥā·rimof HarimH2766

√ Chârim — Charim, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Chârim: Harim Cambridge gathers four observations (Magbish absent from the parallels, Elam and Harim being personal rather than local names, the gap in 1 Esdras, and the 32 for 320) and concludes that vv. 30 to 32 show “the traces of an early confusion in the text.” That judgement is his, and it is the most candid sentence any of the commentators writes about this chapter.

שְׁלֹ֥שׁšə·lōš320H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeNumberfeminine singular construct

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

וְעֶשְׂרִֽים׃סwə·‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyConjunctive wawNumbercommon plural

ʻesrîym: twenty A rounded tally, with no unit digit.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Harim: three hundreds and-twenty.”

Where the English smooths the original

חָרִ֔ם חָרִם (H2766) appears twice in this chapter, here among the people and at v. 39 among the priests. Benson and Poole both insist the two are distinct: “There is another Harim mentioned above, Ezra 2:32 , but that was no priest as this was.” English spells them identically, as does Hebrew, which is exactly the difficulty the register's genealogical book existed to solve.
וְעֶשְׂרִֽים The verse ends on a bare “and-twenty,” one of only three rounded tallies in the people's list. All three witnesses agree on 320, which Cambridge notes is inserted in 1 Esdras as “Arom” with 32 instead of 320, a single order of magnitude lost in copying.
שְׁלֹ֥שׁ שְׁלֹשׁ, feminine construct three, governing hundreds. Cambridge treats this verse as displaced: he thinks it “has been detached from its place in the first portion of the register,” where the clan names stand.

33

the men of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- lōḏ ḥā·ḏîḏ wə·’ō·w·nōw šə·ḇa‘ mê·’ō·wṯ ‘eś·rîm wa·ḥă·miš·šāh

Word by word8 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the menH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

לֹד֙lōḏof LodH3850

√ Lôd — Lod, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Lôd: Lod, later Lydda ⚙ Of all the places in this chapter, this is the one whose name a reader of the New Testament has already met. The register of the return runs, through this line, into the geography of the early church, though nothing here says these particular men were forebears of the congregation Peter later visited; Cambridge gives the identification of the place and no more.

חָדִ֣ידḥā·ḏîḏHadidH2307

√ Châdîyd — Chadid, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

וְאוֹנ֔וֹwə·’ō·w·nōwand OnoH207

√ ʼÔwnôw — Ono, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

Ono, placed by Cambridge some six miles north of Lydda.

שְׁבַ֥עšə·ḇa‘725H7651

√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Numberfeminine singular construct

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

עֶשְׂרִ֥ים‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural

וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה׃סwa·ḥă·miš·šāh. . .H2568

√ châmêsh — fiveConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Lod, Hadid and-Ono: seven hundreds twenty and-five.”

Where the English smooths the original

לֹד֙ לֹד (H3850) is the town Cambridge identifies as “the same as Lydda, familiar to us in the Acts of the Apostles,” on the Egypt road near Joppa. The English “Lod” hides the continuity; the men counted here are ancestors of the congregation Peter visited.
וְאוֹנ֔וֹ וְאוֹנוֹ (H207), Ono, third of three towns sharing one tally, as at v. 25. Cambridge notes Lod and Ono were built by Shemed a Benjamite and lay in Benjamite territory, well west of the hill country: the register's reach extends to the coastal plain.
שְׁבַ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת עֶשְׂרִ֥ים וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה Seven hundreds twenty and-five. Nehemiah reads 721; Ellicott records that 1 Esdras supports Ezra here. Four Hebrew words, one English figure, and a four-man discrepancy invisible in translation.

34

the men of Jericho, 345;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê yə·rê·ḥōw šə·lōš mê·’ō·wṯ ’ar·bā·‘îm wa·ḥă·miš·šāh

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe menH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

יְרֵח֔וֹyə·rê·ḥōwof JerichoH3405

√ Yᵉrîychôw — Jericho or Jerecho, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Yᵉrîychôw: Jericho ⚙ The list of the return includes the city whose walls fell at the beginning of the conquest and whose rebuilder bore Joshua's curse. Cambridge notes it was home to one of the schools of the prophets and apparently belonged to the northern kingdom, which makes these three hundred and forty-five men a quiet witness that the return was not strictly a Judah-and-Benjamin affair.

שְׁלֹ֥שׁšə·lōš345H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeNumberfeminine singular construct

Three, feminine construct, with hundreds.

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

אַרְבָּעִ֥ים’ar·bā·‘îm. . .H705

√ ʼarbâʻîym — fortyNumbercommon plural

וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה׃סwa·ḥă·miš·šāh. . .H2568

√ châmêsh — fiveConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Jericho: three hundreds forty and-five.”

Where the English smooths the original

יְרֵח֔וֹ יְרֵחוֹ (H3405), which Cambridge calls “the city of palms,” destroyed by Joshua under a curse and rebuilt by Hiel the Bethelite in Ahab's day at the cost the curse named. Three hundred and forty-five of its men come home, and all three witnesses agree on the figure.
בְּנֵ֣י “Sons of Jericho”: the formula of descent applied to the one city Israel was told never to refound. English “the men of Jericho” is accurate in sense and loses the jar of hearing anyone called a son of that place.
שְׁלֹ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת אַרְבָּעִ֥ים וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה Three hundreds forty and-five, four words in a fixed pattern that has now repeated some thirty times. The register's monotony is itself a translation problem: English variation in phrasing would make the list read less relentlessly than it does.

35

and the descendants of Senaah, 3,630.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê sə·nā·’āh šə·lō·šeṯ ’ă·lā·p̄îm wə·šêš mê·’ō·wṯ ū·šə·lō·šîm

Word by word7 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêand the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

סְנָאָ֔הsə·nā·’āhof SenaahH5570

√ Çᵉnâʼâh — Senaah, a place in PalestineNounpropermasculine singular

Çᵉnâʼâh: Senaah ⚙ The single largest contingent in the return came from a town that no one has ever located, and its figure differs by three hundred between the two copies. Cambridge's four candidate explanations (textual corruption, a whole district counted in, Michaelis's guess that the name meant “the hated one” and stood for Jerusalem, or omitted places folded in) are all offered as conjecture, and this synthesis adopts none of them.

שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁתšə·lō·šeṯ3,630H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeNumbermasculine singular construct

אֲלָפִ֔ים’ă·lā·p̄îm. . .H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine plural

ʼeleph (plural): thousands The only plural of the thousand-word in the lay list.

וְשֵׁ֥שׁwə·šêš. . .H8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Conjunctive wawNumberfeminine singular construct

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

וּשְׁלֹשִֽׁים׃סū·šə·lō·šîm. . .H7970

√ shᵉlôwshîym — thirtyConjunctive wawNumbercommon plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Senaah: three thousands and-six hundreds and-thirty.”

Where the English smooths the original

סְנָאָ֔ה סְנָאָה (H5570) is the largest entry in the chapter and the most obscure: Cambridge says the name occurs only here and in Nehemiah's lists, and that “the numbers here mentioned are surprisingly great considering that the town is quite unknown to us.” The English gives no hint that the biggest number in the register belongs to a place nobody can find.
שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת אֲלָפִ֔ים שְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים is masculine construct three with the masculine plural “thousands,” the only plural ʼălāp̄îm in the people's list. Every other large house used the dual or the singular; this one needed the plural.
וְשֵׁ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת וּשְׁלֹשִֽׁים Each element carries its own waw: and-six hundreds and-thirty. Nehemiah reads 3,930, three hundred more. Cambridge lists four separate explanations, including Michaelis's conjecture that Senaah was a nickname for Jerusalem itself, and does not choose.

36

The priests: The descendants of Jedaiah (through the house of Jeshua), 973;

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hak·kō·hă·nîm bə·nê yə·ḏa‘·yāh lə·ḇêṯ yê·šū·a‘ tə·ša‘ mê·’ō·wṯ šiḇ·‘îm ū·šə·lō·šāh

Word by word9 · parsed

הַֽכֹּהֲנִ֑יםhak·kō·hă·nîmThe priestsH3548

√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestArticleNounmasculine plural

kôhên: priest, one who officiates The word that governs vv. 36 to 39 and returns at v. 61, v. 62 (as kᵉhunnâh, priesthood) and v. 63. The chapter's most contested question is who may bear this noun, and the register answers it by descent alone.

בְּנֵ֤יbə·nêThe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

יְדַֽעְיָה֙yə·ḏa‘·yāhof JedaiahH3048

√ Yᵉdaʻyâh — Jedajah, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Yᵉdaʻyâh: Yah has known ⚙ The priestly list opens with a name meaning that God knows, and closes at v. 62 with three houses whose records could not be found. The register cannot see what the name claims God does. Ellicott, Cambridge, K&D and Pulpit all discuss whether this Jedaiah is the second Davidic course or the high-priestly family, and none of them settles it.

לְבֵ֣יתlə·ḇêṯthrough the houseH1004

√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcPreposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

יֵשׁ֔וּעַyê·šū·a‘of JeshuaH3442

√ Yêshûwaʻ — Jeshua, the name of ten Israelites, also of a place in PalestineNounpropermasculine singular

תְּשַׁ֥עtə·ša‘973H8672

√ têshaʻ — nine or (ordinal) ninthNumberfeminine singular construct

Nine hundreds: the smallest of the four priestly houses, yet the one named first, which Pulpit attributes to the high priest belonging to it.

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

שִׁבְעִ֥יםšiḇ·‘îm. . .H7657

√ shibʻîym — seventyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁלֹשָֽׁה׃סū·šə·lō·šāh. . .H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“The-priests: sons-of Jedaiah, belonging-to-house-of Jeshua: nine hundreds seventy and-three.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַֽכֹּהֲנִ֑ים הַכֹּהֲנִים stands alone with the article and an atnach, a one-word heading: “The priests.” Strong's derives kôhên from “literally one officiating.” The English colon in “The priests: The descendants of Jedaiah” is the translator's punctuation for what Hebrew does with an accent.
לְבֵ֣ית יֵשׁ֔וּעַ Literally “to the house of Jeshua,” the same lamed construction as v. 6 and v. 16. Pulpit takes it of “Jeshua, the existing high priest”; K&D and Cambridge weigh whether it means a branch of an older house instead. BSB's “through the house of Jeshua” chooses one reading of a preposition that does not choose.
יְדַֽעְיָה֙ יְדַעְיָה (H3048) is Yah has known, and it opens the priestly register. Cambridge places it second among the twenty-four courses of 1 Chronicles 24; Ellicott notes that only three of David's twenty-four courses appear in this chapter at all. The English preserves the name and not the office it implies.

37

the descendants of Immer, 1,052;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ’im·mêr ’e·lep̄ ḥă·miš·šîm ū·šə·nā·yim

Word by word5 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

אִמֵּ֔ר’im·mêrof ImmerH564

√ ʼImmêr — Immer, the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

ʼImmêr: Immer Strong's counts five Israelites of the name. This is the difficulty of v. 62 in miniature: a priestly claim rests on a name that several unrelated men also bore, which is why a written register, and not memory, was required.

אֶ֖לֶף’e·lep̄1,052H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine singular

A thousand and fifty-two, identical in all three witnesses.

חֲמִשִּׁ֥יםḥă·miš·šîm. . .H2572

√ chămishshîym — fiftyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃סū·šə·nā·yim. . .H8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoConjunctive wawNumbermd

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Immer: a-thousand fifty and-two.”

Where the English smooths the original

אִמֵּ֔ר אִמֵּר (H564), which Cambridge identifies as the sixteenth priestly house and the order to which Pashhur the enemy of Jeremiah belonged. The same consonants appear at v. 59 as a Babylonian place name among those who could prove nothing. English prints “Immer” both times and cannot mark the difference.
אֶ֖לֶף אֶלֶף, a thousand, with no hundreds following: “a thousand, fifty and-two.” The priestly houses are large. JFB notes the whole order was anciently divided into twenty-four courses and that “only four of the courses of the priests returned.”
בְּנֵ֣י The identical formula used for the lay clans now carries the priesthood. Nothing in the wording distinguishes a priestly house from a village; only the heading of v. 36 does, and only for the four verses it governs.

38

The Voices✦ 2 public domain

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Either Pashur the son of Malchiah, a prominent man in the court of king Zedekiah ( Jeremiah 21:1 ; Jeremiah 38:1 ), gave his name to the branch of the house of Malchiah which returned with Zerubbabel: or the whole priestly house of Malchiah became known by the name of its distinguished member, Pashur.

source ↗

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

only four families are mentioned, those of Jedaiah, Immer, Pashur, and Harim, and the number of them amounted to 4289; these, according to the Jews, were heads of four courses, which were all that returned from Babylon

Gill's supporting citation is the Jerusalem Talmud, Taanith; the claim that these four were the whole priesthood of the return is rabbinic tradition reported by him, not a statement of the verse.

source ↗

the descendants of Pashhur, 1,247;

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê p̄aš·ḥūr ’e·lep̄ mā·ṯa·yim ’ar·bā·‘îm wə·šiḇ·‘āh

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

פַשְׁח֔וּרp̄aš·ḥūrof PashhurH6583

√ Pashchûwr — Pashchur, the name of four IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Pashchûwr: Pashhur The name of the priest who put Jeremiah in the stocks. Whether this house descends from him, from a Pashhur of the house of Malchijah, or from another man entirely, the commentators dispute; K&D reports Bertheau's view that it was a race that “took the place of an older and perhaps extinct order.” ⚙ That a house bearing a persecutor's name should come home the largest of the four is the kind of fact this register records without comment.

אֶ֕לֶף’e·lep̄1,247H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine singular

A thousand, singular absolute.

מָאתַ֖יִםmā·ṯa·yim. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfd

אַרְבָּעִ֥ים’ar·bā·‘îm. . .H705

√ ʼarbâʻîym — fortyNumbercommon plural

וְשִׁבְעָֽה׃סwə·šiḇ·‘āh. . .H7651

√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Conjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Pashhur: a-thousand, two-hundred forty and-seven.”

Where the English smooths the original

פַשְׁח֔וּר פַשְׁחוּר (H6583) is the largest priestly house in the list and, as K&D notes, “does not occur among the orders of priests in 1 Chronicles 24.” Cambridge offers two ways it might have entered the rota. The English name conceals that the biggest priestly contingent has no Davidic warrant in the records.
אֶ֕לֶף מָאתַ֖יִם A thousand and a pair of hundreds, the two words that make 1,247. All three witnesses agree exactly on every priestly figure in vv. 36 to 39, which Cambridge notes as a fact worth having: “The names and numbers of the houses of the priests correspond exactly in the three registers.”
אַרְבָּעִ֥ים וְשִׁבְעָֽה Forty and-seven, the ten preceding the unit. Where the lay list wandered between the two orders, the priestly entries keep one pattern throughout, another small sign that this section came from a separate and better-kept source.

39

and the descendants of Harim, 1,017.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ḥā·rim ’e·lep̄ wə·šiḇ·‘āh ‘ā·śār

Word by word5 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêand the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חָרִ֔םḥā·rimof HarimH2766

√ Chârim — Charim, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Chârim: Harim Benson's observation is the theological weight of the whole block: of the twenty-four courses David appointed, “are not above four or five that returned.” The priesthood came back at one sixth of its establishment, and the temple it came back to had not yet been laid.

אֶ֖לֶף’e·lep̄1,017H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine singular

וְשִׁבְעָ֥הwə·šiḇ·‘āh. . .H7651

√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Conjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

עָשָֽׂר׃ס‘ā·śār. . .H6240

√ ʻâsâr — ten (only in combination), iNumbermasculine singular

ʻâsâr: ten, in combination Bound form for the teens, as at v. 6 and v. 18.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of Harim: a-thousand and-seven ten.”

Where the English smooths the original

חָרִ֔ם חָרִם is the second Harim of the chapter, the first standing at v. 32 among the people. Benson and Poole both insist on the distinction: “that was no priest as this was.” Hebrew and English are equally unable to mark it; only the section headings do.
וְשִׁבְעָ֥ה עָשָֽׂר The teen form again: “and-seven ten,” seventeen, appended to a thousand. English 1,017 needs a zero where Hebrew simply omits the hundreds. Cambridge names Harim the third priestly house of 1 Chronicles 24:8.
בְּנֵ֣י The fourth and last priestly entry, closing a block of four verses whose figures total 4,289. Gill gives that sum; the Hebrew never states it, and the reader must add the four words himself.

40

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

Singers and porters, who are reckoned in this, and the two following verses, whose numbers were no more than three hundred and forty one; whereas, in the times of David, they were 38,000

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The small number (i.e. 431 in all) of the Levites is very striking by the side of the 4289 priests.

Cambridge's figure of 431 counts Levites, singers and gatekeepers together; Pulpit, Gill and K&D make the same total 341. The discrepancy is in the commentators' arithmetic, not in the Hebrew.

source ↗

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Of the first there were only two families, and these are both traced up to one, that of Hodaviah or Judah ( Ezra 3:9 ) or Hodevah

source ↗

The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel (through the line of Hodaviah), 74.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hal·wî·yim bə·nê- yê·šū·a‘ wə·qaḏ·mî·’êl liḇ·nê hō·w·ḏaw·yāh šiḇ·‘îm wə·’ar·bā·‘āh

Word by word8 · parsed

הַלְוִיִּ֑םhal·wî·yimThe LevitesH3881

√ Lêvîyîy — a Levite or descendant of LeviArticleNounpropermasculine plural

Lêvîyîy: Levite ⚙ Seventy-four Levites for 4,289 priests is the most eloquent number in the chapter. Pulpit suspects “some jealousy of the priests” bred in exile; Cambridge simply calls the disproportion “very striking” and points forward to Ezra 8:15, where Ezra finds no Levites at all in his caravan and has to send for them. Whatever the cause, the order charged with the temple's daily service came home almost extinct.

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

יֵשׁ֧וּעַyê·šū·a‘of JeshuaH3442

√ Yêshûwaʻ — Jeshua, the name of ten Israelites, also of a place in PalestineNounpropermasculine singular

וְקַדְמִיאֵ֛לwə·qaḏ·mî·’êland KadmielH6934

√ Qadmîyʼêl — Kadmiel, the name of three IsraelitesConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular

לִבְנֵ֥יliḇ·nêthrough the lineH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcPreposition-lNounmasculine plural construct

הוֹדַוְיָ֖הhō·w·ḏaw·yāhof HodaviahH1938

√ Hôwdavyâh — Hodavjah, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Hodaviah, appearing as Judah in Ezra 3:9 and Hodevah in Nehemiah 7:43; three forms of one name across three verses.

שִׁבְעִ֥יםšiḇ·‘îm74H7657

√ shibʻîym — seventyNumbercommon plural

shibʻîym: seventy The number of the exile's years, and of the Levites who outlived it.

וְאַרְבָּעָֽה׃סwə·’ar·bā·‘āh. . .H702

√ ʼarbaʻ — fourConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“The-Levites: sons-of Jeshua and-Kadmiel, belonging-to-sons-of Hodaviah: seventy and-four.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַלְוִיִּ֑ם הַלְוִיִּם, a one-word heading under an atnach, exactly parallel to הַכֹּהֲנִים in v. 36. The parallel is the point: two headings of identical grammatical weight introduce 4,289 men and then 74.
שִׁבְעִ֥ים וְאַרְבָּעָֽה Seventy and-four. Two Hebrew words carry the entire non-priestly Levitical order of the return. Gill sets the comparison: “in the times of David, they were 38,000.” The English digits are correct and say nothing.
לִבְנֵ֥י הוֹדַוְיָ֖ה “To the sons of Hodaviah,” the third such lamed qualification in the chapter. Cambridge argues it limits Kadmiel alone, K&D that it distinguishes this Kadmiel from others of the name. BSB's “through the line of Hodaviah” applies it to both men and hides a real ambiguity.

41

The singers: the descendants of Asaph, 128.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ham·šō·rə·rîm bə·nê ’ā·sāp̄ mê·’āh ‘eś·rîm ū·šə·mō·nāh

Word by word6 · parsed

הַֽמְשֹׁרְרִ֑יםham·šō·rə·rîmThe singersH7891

√ shîyr — to singArticleVerbPielParticiplemasculine plural

shîyr: to sing (Piel participle) ⚙ A hundred and twenty-eight singers came back, more than the seventy-four Levites who were to serve the altar. A community with no temple and no ark brought its choir home at nearly double the strength of its ministers. Cambridge notes that of the twenty-four classes of singers only Asaph's is represented.

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

אָסָ֔ף’ā·sāp̄of AsaphH623

√ ʼÂçâph — Asaph, the name of three Israelites, and of the family of the firstNounpropermasculine singular

Asaph, whom Cambridge notes “enjoyed a great reputation as a Psalmist.”

מֵאָ֖הmê·’āh128H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine singular

עֶשְׂרִ֥ים‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁמֹנָֽה׃פū·šə·mō·nāh. . .H8083

√ shᵉmôneh — a cardinal number, eight (as if a surplus above the 'perfect' seven)Conjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“The-singers: sons-of Asaph: a-hundred twenty and-eight.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַֽמְשֹׁרְרִ֑ים הַמְשֹׁרְרִים is not a noun but a Piel participle of shîyr, “to sing”: literally “the ones singing.” English “The singers” makes an office of what Hebrew leaves as an ongoing act. The same participle returns in both genders at v. 65 for hired singers, where it means something quite different.
אָסָ֔ף אָסָף (H623), one guild of three. Ellicott: “of the families of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the first alone is represented.” The Psalter's superscriptions name Asaph over a dozen psalms; the choir that came home was the one whose psalms were written down.
וּשְׁמֹנָֽה׃פ The verse closes with פ, the open-section marker, not the ס used through the earlier list. The Masoretes marked a larger break here. English paragraphing shows nothing of the document's own joints.

42

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The smallness of this and the two preceding numbers is remarkable. While the returning priests numbered 4289, the returning Levites of all classes were no more than 341 (350, Nehemiah). It would seem as if some jealousy of the priests, like that which animated Korah and his followers ( Numbers 16:1-10 ), must have grown up during the captivity

The comparison with Korah is Pulpit's own conjecture about motive; nothing in Ezra explains why so few Levites returned.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The door-keepers mentioned here and in 1 Chronicles 26:1-19 are Levites: possibly the name ‘porters’ was preserved to distinguish the Levitical attendants from the priestly door-keepers

source ↗

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The porters, or gatekeepers, number six families, three of which appear in the old Jerusalem

source ↗

The gatekeepers: the descendants of Shallum, the descendants of Ater, the descendants of Talmon, the descendants of Akkub, the descendants of Hatita, and the descendants of Shobai, 139 in all.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê haš·šō·‘ă·rîm bə·nê- šal·lūm bə·nê- ’ā·ṭêr bə·nê- ṭal·mō·wn bə·nê- ‘aq·qūḇ bə·nê ḥă·ṭî·ṭā bə·nê šō·ḇāy mê·’āh šə·lō·šîm wə·ṯiš·‘āh hak·kōl

Word by word18 · parsed

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêvvvH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

הַשֹּֽׁעֲרִ֗יםhaš·šō·‘ă·rîmThe gatekeepersH7778

√ shôwʻêr — a janitorArticleNounmasculine plural

shôwʻêr: gatekeeper, janitor Cambridge points to Psalm 84:10, where the psalmist would rather stand at the threshold of God's house than dwell in the tents of wickedness. ⚙ A hundred and thirty-nine men are coming back to keep gates in a temple that does not yet exist, and their families have kept the office through seventy years of having no door to guard.

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

שַׁלּ֤וּםšal·lūmof ShallumH7967

√ Shallûwm — Shallum, the name of fourteen IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵֽי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

אָטֵר֙’ā·ṭêrof AterH333

√ ʼÂṭêr — Ater, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

טַלְמ֣וֹןṭal·mō·wnof TalmonH2929

√ Ṭalmôwn — Talmon, a temple doorkeeperNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

עַקּ֔וּב‘aq·qūḇof AkkubH6126

√ ʻAqqûwb — Akkub, the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חֲטִיטָ֖אḥă·ṭî·ṭāof HatitaH2410

√ Chăṭîyṭâʼ — Chatita, a temple porterNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêand the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

שֹׁבָ֑יšō·ḇāyof ShobaiH7630

√ Shôbay — Shobai, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

מֵאָ֖הmê·’āh139H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine singular

שְׁלֹשִׁ֥יםšə·lō·šîm. . .H7970

√ shᵉlôwshîym — thirtyNumbercommon plural

וְתִשְׁעָֽה׃פwə·ṯiš·‘āh. . .H8672

√ têshaʻ — nine or (ordinal) ninthConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

הַכֹּ֕לhak·kōlin allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeArticleNounmasculine singular

kôl: the whole, all Placed last for emphasis, closing the three ministerial classes of vv. 40 to 42, whose combined strength is 341.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of the-gatekeepers: sons-of Shallum, sons-of Ater, sons-of Talmon, sons-of Akkub, sons-of Hatita, sons-of Shobai: a-hundred thirty and-nine, the-whole.”

Where the English smooths the original

בְּנֵ֣י הַשֹּֽׁעֲרִ֗ים The Hebrew heading is בְּנֵי הַשֹּׁעֲרִים, “sons of the gatekeepers,” which is why the interlinear marks the first word “vvv”: English has no room for both. Shôwʻêr (H7778) is glossed by Strong's simply “a janitor.” The men who guarded the house of God are named for the door they stood in.
הַכֹּ֕ל The last word of the verse, הַכֹּל, “the whole,” comes after the number in Hebrew, not before: “a hundred thirty and nine, the whole.” BSB's “139 in all” restores English order and loses the emphatic final position of the totalling word, which returns in a different form at v. 58 and v. 64.
אָטֵר֙ אָטֵר here is the second Ater of the chapter, the first at v. 16 among the lay houses. Cambridge notes Shallum, Akkub and Talmon are the door-keeping families of 1 Chronicles 9:17, so half these names are pre-exilic and half are new.

43

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

By the etymology those given: known by this name only in the later books. (See 1Chronicles 9:2 .) They were hieroduli, or temple-bondsmen: the lowest order of the ministry, performing the more laborious duties of the sanctuary.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Their origin is hid in great obscurity. The name denotes ‘given’. Jewish tradition identified them mainly with the Gibeonites, who had been assigned by Joshua to the Levites to assist them in the discharge of the more menial tasks

Cambridge reports the Gibeonite derivation as Jewish tradition while calling the origin obscure; the identification is not asserted by the text.

source ↗

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Persons devoted to the inferior services of the priests and Levites. Commonly supposed to be the Gibeonites, given (so their name signifies) by Joshua first, and again by David, when Saul had expelled them, to the priests and Levites, for those services.

source ↗

The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, the descendants of Hasupha, the descendants of Tabbaoth,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

han·nə·ṯî·nîm bə·nê- ṣî·ḥā ḇə·nê- ḥă·śū·p̄ā bə·nê ṭab·bā·‘ō·wṯ

Word by word7 · parsed

הַנְּתִינִ֑יםhan·nə·ṯî·nîmThe temple servantsH5411

√ Nâthîyn — the Nethinim, or Temple-servants (as given to that duty)ArticleNounmasculine plural

Nâthîyn: the given ones Ellicott traces their history: allotted first from the Midianite captives under Moses, reinforced from the Gibeonites under Joshua, and probably again under David. Barnes calls them “hieroduli or sacred slaves.” Cambridge, having reviewed the evidence, concludes only that “their origin is hid in great obscurity.” ⚙ The register gives thirty-five houses of them individual names, which is more than it gives most towns.

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

צִיחָ֥אṣî·ḥāof ZihaH6727

√ Tsîychâʼ — Tsicha, the name of two NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Ziha, a name that recurs in Nehemiah 11:21 as a chief of the Nethinim.

בְנֵי־ḇə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חֲשׂוּפָ֖אḥă·śū·p̄āof HasuphaH2817

√ Chăsûwphâʼ — Chasupha, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

טַבָּעֽוֹת׃ṭab·bā·‘ō·wṯof TabbaothH2884

√ Ṭabbâʻôwth — Tabbaoth, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“The-given-ones: sons-of Ziha, sons-of Hasupha, sons-of Tabbaoth,”

Where the English smooths the original

הַנְּתִינִ֑ים הַנְּתִינִים (H5411) is a passive formation from the verb “to give”: Strong's, “the Nethinim, or Temple-servants (as given to that duty).” Ellicott: “By the etymology those given.” BSB's “temple servants” states the function and drops the participle; in Hebrew their whole name is that somebody handed them over.
בְנֵי־ The second occurrence in this verse is written בְנֵי with a soft bet (ḇə·nê) where the first and third have the hard בְּנֵי, the difference caused by the preceding vowel. The alternation runs through the whole Nethinim list and is entirely invisible in English.
צִיחָ֥א צִיחָא, Ziha, the first of thirty-five Nethinim names, most of them ending in the -a and -ah vowels that Cambridge notes are uncharacteristic of Hebrew and point to “foreign extraction.” The English transliterations flatten the whole list into ordinary-looking names.

44

the descendants of Keros, the descendants of Siaha, the descendants of Padon,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- qê·rōs bə·nê- sî·‘ă·hā bə·nê p̄ā·ḏō·wn

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

קֵרֹ֥סqê·rōsof KerosH7026

√ Qêyrôç — Keros, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Keros, found only here and in Nehemiah's parallel, which the Verifier confirms as a two-verse lexeme.

בְּֽנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

סִֽיעֲהָ֖אsî·‘ă·hāof SiahaH5517

√ Çîyʻâʼ — Sia or Siaha, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

פָדֽוֹן׃p̄ā·ḏō·wnof PadonH6303

√ Pâdôwn — Padon, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Padon, likewise confined to this pair of verses in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Keros, sons-of Siaha, sons-of Padon,”

Where the English smooths the original

סִֽיעֲהָ֖א סִיעֲהָא appears in Nehemiah 7:47 as the shorter Sia, and Cambridge notes the variation. The English “Siaha” follows Ezra; a reader of the two lists in translation meets two men where the Hebrew shows one name spelled twice.
פָדֽוֹן פָדוֹן (H6303) is given in the lexicon only as “Padon, one of the Nethinim,” with no meaning attached. ⚙ Its shape is Hebrew where several of its neighbours in this list are not, and that is as much as can honestly be said: the register kept the name after the sense had gone.
בְּנֵי־ Three occurrences of the formula in one verse, each joined to its name by maqqef so that the two words are accented as one. English repeats “the descendants of” three times and makes the verse read as a list of three clauses rather than one breath.

45

the descendants of Lebanah, the descendants of Hagabah, the descendants of Akkub,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- lə·ḇā·nāh ḇə·nê- ḥă·ḡā·ḇāh bə·nê ‘aq·qūḇ

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

לְבָנָ֥הlə·ḇā·nāhof LebanahH3838

√ Lᵉbânâʼ — Lebana or Lebanah, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

בְנֵי־ḇə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חֲגָבָ֖הḥă·ḡā·ḇāhof HagabahH2286

√ Chăgâbâʼ — Chagaba or Chagabah, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Hagabah. Confined, like most of these names, to this verse and Nehemiah 7:48.

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

עַקּֽוּב׃‘aq·qūḇof AkkubH6126

√ ʻAqqûwb — Akkub, the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

ʻAqqûwb: Akkub The second man of this name in the chapter, three verses after the first. The register's own procedure at v. 62 shows why such repetitions mattered: a name was not a proof.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Lebanah, sons-of Hagabah, sons-of Akkub,”

Where the English smooths the original

עַקּֽוּב עַקּוּב here is a Nethinim house; the same name stood at v. 42 among the gatekeepers. K&D notes that this Akkub, with Hagab and Asnah, is “omitted in Nehemiah” altogether. The English repeats a familiar name and gives no sign that the line is attested in only one copy.
לְבָנָ֥ה לְבָנָה (H3838) is the word for white, and also for the moon and for the poplar, though the lexicon records only “Lebana or Lebanah, one of the Nethinim.” Cambridge's observation about the many feminine-looking endings in this list applies here; no meaning is asserted beyond the lexicon's.
חֲגָבָ֖ה חֲגָבָה and the חָגָב of v. 46 are two forms of one name, listed as separate houses in consecutive verses. Hebrew shows the pair at a glance; English “Hagabah” and “Hagab” nearly does, and the parallel in Nehemiah keeps only one of them.

46

the descendants of Hagab, the descendants of Shalmai, the descendants of Hanan,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- ḥā·ḡāḇ bə·nê- šam·lay bə·nê ḥā·nān

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חָגָ֥בḥā·ḡāḇof HagabH2285

√ Châgâb — Chagab, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

שַׁמְלַיšam·layof ShalmaiH8073

√ Shamlay — Shamlai, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Shamlai, one of the names K&D notes as differing in form between the two registers.

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חָנָֽן׃ḥā·nānof HananH2605

√ Chânân — Chanan, the name of seven IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Chânân: he has shown favour ⚙ The theophoric and grace-bearing names scattered through the Nethinim list (Hanan here, Reaiah in v. 47, Delaiah and Tobiah in v. 60) suggest that whatever these families were by origin, they had long since taken Israel's God for their own. Cambridge's caution about their origin is retained: this is an inference from names, not a documented history.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Hagab, sons-of Shamlai, sons-of Hanan,”

Where the English smooths the original

שַׁמְלַי שַׁמְלַי is written without vowel points in the source interlinear and is transmitted three ways: Shamlai here, Shalmai in the older English, Salmai in Nehemiah 7:48. K&D records the variation. One consonantal metathesis, three names in translation.
חָנָֽן חָנָן (H2605), of which Strong's says “the name of seven Israelites.” It means he has been gracious. Among a list of temple bondsmen of largely foreign extraction stands a plain Hebrew name confessing grace, and the English carries the sound only.
בְּנֵ֥י The formula for the third time in the verse, hard bet throughout here where v. 43 and v. 45 alternate. The Masoretic pointing of these repeated words varies with what precedes; the English repetition is uniform.

47

the descendants of Giddel, the descendants of Gahar, the descendants of Reaiah,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- ḡid·dêl bə·nê- ḡa·ḥar bə·nê rə·’ā·yāh

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

גִדֵּ֥לḡid·dêlof GiddelH1435

√ Giddêl — Giddel, the name of one of the Nethinim, also of one of 'Solomon's servants'Nounpropermasculine singular

Giddel, a name shared with a house of Solomon's servants at v. 56.

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

גַ֖חַרḡa·ḥarof GaharH1515

√ Gachar — Gachar, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

רְאָיָֽה׃rə·’ā·yāhof ReaiahH7211

√ Rᵉʼâyâh — Reajah, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Rᵉʼâyâh: Yah has seen ⚙ Placed in the roll of the temple slaves, this name answers the chapter's darkest moment before it arrives. Sixteen verses later three houses will search a register and not be found in it. Somebody in this list was already named for the fact that God looks.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Giddel, sons-of Gahar, sons-of Reaiah,”

Where the English smooths the original

רְאָיָֽה רְאָיָה (H7211) is a sentence name, Yah has seen. It stands in a list of men whose ancestry nobody recorded, and its meaning is the exact counterweight to the chapter's crisis at vv. 59 to 62. English “Reaiah” says none of this.
גִדֵּ֥ל גִדֵּל (H1435) is entered here among the Nethinim and again at v. 56 among Solomon's servants, which is why Strong's glosses it for both classes at once. The register keeps the two houses apart by section, not by spelling.
גַ֖חַר גַחַר is one of the names the Verifier finds in only two verses of the whole Hebrew Bible, this one and Nehemiah 7:49. Translated, it looks like any other name; in the lexicon it is nearly unique.

48

the descendants of Rezin, the descendants of Nekoda, the descendants of Gazzam,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- rə·ṣîn bə·nê- nə·qō·w·ḏā bə·nê ḡaz·zām

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

רְצִ֥יןrə·ṣînof RezinH7526

√ Rᵉtsîyn — Retsin, the name of a Syrian and of an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Rezin, sharing a name with the Aramean king of Isaiah 7.

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

נְקוֹדָ֖אnə·qō·w·ḏāof NekodaH5353

√ Nᵉqôwdâʼ — Nekoda, a Temple-servantNounpropermasculine singular

Nᵉqôwdâʼ: Nekoda The one name that appears in both the Nethinim list and the list of the unprovable. Cambridge: “it is possible that the family of Nekoda which ranked among the Nethinim sought to establish a claim to a place among the free-born Israelites.” K&D reports the same conjecture from Bertheau. ⚙ If it is right, the chapter contains, in two lines twelve verses apart, both halves of a disputed identity case.

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

גַזָּֽם׃ḡaz·zāmof GazzamH1502

√ Gazzâm — Gazzam, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Rezin, sons-of Nekoda, sons-of Gazzam,”

Where the English smooths the original

רְצִ֥ין רְצִין (H7526), which Strong's glosses as “the name of a Syrian and of an Israelite.” Rezin was the Aramean king who besieged Ahaz. A temple-servant house in Judah bears the name of a foreign enemy king, as v. 53 will bear Sisera's, and the English notes neither.
נְקוֹדָ֖א נְקוֹדָא is the same name that stands at v. 60 among the houses who could not prove their Israelite descent. Cambridge raises the possibility that the coincidence is not accidental: the Nekoda of v. 60 may have been suspected of belonging to this Nekoda, that is, of being Nethinim claiming to be Israel.
גַזָּֽם גַזָּם (H1502) is a word used elsewhere in Scripture for a devouring locust, though the lexicon here records only “Gazzam, one of the Nethinim.” The observation is left at that; no meaning is claimed beyond the entry given.

49

the descendants of Uzza, the descendants of Paseah, the descendants of Besai,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- ‘uz·zā ḇə·nê- p̄ā·sê·aḥ bə·nê ḇê·sāy

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

עֻזָּ֥א‘uz·zāof UzzaH5798

√ ʻUzzâʼ — Uzza or Uzzah, the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Uzza. The same name as the man of 2 Samuel 6; the register makes nothing of it, and neither should the reader beyond noticing it.

בְנֵי־ḇə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

פָסֵ֖חַp̄ā·sê·aḥof PaseahH6454

√ Pâçêach — Paseach, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

בֵסָֽי׃ḇê·sāyof BesaiH1153

√ Bᵉçay — Besai, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Besai, found only here and in Nehemiah 7:52.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Uzza, sons-of Paseah, sons-of Besai,”

Where the English smooths the original

פָסֵ֖חַ פָסֵחַ (H6454) shares its consonants with the verb to pass over and with the noun for the Passover, and can also mean lame. The lexicon here gives only “Paseach, the name of two Israelites.” ⚙ The resonance is noted and not pressed: the brief supplies no gloss beyond the name.
עֻזָּ֥א עֻזָּא (H5798), the name of the man struck down for touching the ark. Strong's counts five Israelites so called. In a list of those who did the heavy work of the sanctuary, the name carries a warning the English cannot deliver.
בְנֵי־ Middle occurrence again with soft bet, בְנֵי, after the final vowel of the preceding word. Three identical English phrases render two different Hebrew pointings.

50

the descendants of Asnah, the descendants of Meunim, the descendants of Nephusim,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- ’as·nāh ḇə·nê- mə·ʿī·nīm bə·nê nə·p̄ī·sīm

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

אַסְנָ֥ה’as·nāhof AsnahH619

√ ʼAçnâh — Asnah, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

בְנֵי־ḇə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

מְעִינִיםmə·ʿī·nīmof MeunimH4586

√ Mᵉʻûwnîy — a Meunite, or inhabitant of Maon (only in plural)Nounpropermasculine singular

Mᵉʻûwnîy: Meunite, of Maon ⚙ Here the register's guard drops: two of its entries are openly the names of foreign peoples, probably war captives assigned to the sanctuary. A chapter obsessed with proving Israelite descent lists, without embarrassment, houses that plainly had none, and counts them in the total of v. 58.

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

נְפִיסִים׃nə·p̄ī·sīmof NephusimH5304

√ Nᵉphîyçîym — Nephisim, a Temple-servantNounpropermasculine singular

Nᵉphîyçîym: Nephisim Cambridge links the name to the Hagrite clans defeated by the Transjordan tribes; if so, these are the descendants of a massacre, serving in the house of the God of their conquerors.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Asnah, sons-of the-Meunim, sons-of Nephisim,”

Where the English smooths the original

מְעִינִים מְעִינִים (H4586) is not a personal name but a gentilic plural: Strong's, “a Meunite, or inhabitant of Maon (only in plural).” Cambridge identifies them with the people Uzziah defeated, and K&D suspects prisoners of war “made vassals for the service of the sanctuary.” English “Meunim” looks like a family and is a nation.
נְפִיסִים נְפִיסִים (H5304) is likewise plural, and Cambridge connects it with the clan of Naphish, listed in Genesis 25 among the sons of Ishmael. Nehemiah 7:52 spells it Nephushesim, which K&D calls a form combined from two readings. Two peoples, not two men, stand in this verse.
אַסְנָ֥ה אַסְנָה (H619) is one of the three Nethinim houses K&D notes are omitted from Nehemiah's copy altogether. A whole family survives in one manuscript line.

51

the descendants of Bakbuk, the descendants of Hakupha, the descendants of Harhur,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- ḇaq·būq bə·nê- ḥă·qū·p̄ā bə·nê ḥar·ḥūr

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

בַקְבּ֥וּקḇaq·būqof BakbukH1227

√ Baqbûwq — Bakbuk, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Bakbuk. One of a run of names whose sound is their most striking feature; the register preserves them exactly as received.

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חֲקוּפָ֖אḥă·qū·p̄āof HakuphaH2709

√ Chăqûwphâʼ — Chakupha, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חַרְחֽוּר׃ḥar·ḥūrof HarhurH2744

√ Charchûwr — Charchur, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Harhur. Confined, like its neighbours, to this verse and its Nehemiah parallel.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Bakbuk, sons-of Hakupha, sons-of Harhur,”

Where the English smooths the original

בַקְבּ֥וּק בַקְבּוּק (H1227) is an onomatopoeic word, the gurgle of liquid poured from a narrow-necked jar, used elsewhere in Scripture for a flask. The lexicon here records only “Bakbuk, one of the Nethinim.” English gives a name; Hebrew gives, at least in sound, a bottle.
חַרְחֽוּר חַרְחוּר (H2744) is a reduplicated form, the pattern Hebrew uses for intensity and repetition, as is בַקְבּוּק in the same verse. Two of the three names in this line are built by doubling a syllable, which English transliteration preserves by accident and explains not at all.
חֲקוּפָ֖א חֲקוּפָא ends in the aleph that marks so many of these names and that Cambridge takes as a sign of non-Israelite derivation. The Verifier finds it in only two verses of the Hebrew Bible, here and Nehemiah 7:53.

52

the descendants of Bazluth, the descendants of Mehida, the descendants of Harsha,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- ḇaṣ·lūṯ bə·nê- mə·ḥî·ḏā bə·nê ḥar·šā

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

בַצְל֥וּתḇaṣ·lūṯof BazluthH1213

√ Batslûwth — Batsluth or Batslith, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Bazluth, spelled Bazlith in the parallel register.

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

מְחִידָ֖אmə·ḥî·ḏāof MehidaH4240

√ Mᵉchîydâʼ — Mechida, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חַרְשָֽׁא׃ḥar·šāof HarshaH2797

√ Charshâʼ — Charsha, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Charshâʼ: Harsha The same consonants as the Babylonian Tel-harsha of v. 59. ⚙ Whether the coincidence means anything the text does not say, and none of the commentators in the brief raises it.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Bazluth, sons-of Mehida, sons-of Harsha,”

Where the English smooths the original

חַרְשָֽׁא חַרְשָׁא (H2797) shares its consonants with the word for a craftsman and with the Tel-harsha of v. 59, which the lexicon renders “Tel-Charsha, a place in Babylonia.” One set of letters serves a Nethinim house here and a Babylonian district sixteen verses later; English spells them differently and hides the tie.
בַצְל֥וּת בַצְלוּת stands as Bazluth here and, Cambridge notes, as Bazlith in Nehemiah 7:54. A single letter differs. Every such variation in this list has been carried faithfully by both traditions rather than harmonised by either.
מְחִידָ֖א מְחִידָא, another aleph-final name found in only two verses of Scripture. The English form gives no signal of how narrowly this family's memory survived.

53

the descendants of Barkos, the descendants of Sisera, the descendants of Temah,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- ḇar·qō·ws bə·nê- sî·sə·rā bə·nê- ṯā·maḥ

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

בַרְק֥וֹסḇar·qō·wsof BarkosH1302

√ Barqôwç — Barkos, one of the NethimimNounpropermasculine singular

Barkos, found only here and in Nehemiah 7:55.

בְּֽנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

סִֽיסְרָ֖אsî·sə·rāof SiseraH5516

√ Çîyçᵉrâʼ — Sisera, the name of a Canaanitish king and of one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Çîyçᵉrâʼ: Sisera ⚙ The commander whose chariots oppressed Israel twenty years, and whose name Deborah's song makes the type of defeated enemies, stands here as the ancestor of a house serving in the temple. Cambridge's cautious “possibly from the inhabitants of Northern Canaan” is as far as the sources go, and as far as this note goes: the identification of the man is not claimed, only the name and what the lexicon says it belonged to.

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

תָֽמַח׃ṯā·maḥof TemahH8547

√ Temach — Temach, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Barkos, sons-of Sisera, sons-of Temah,”

Where the English smooths the original

סִֽיסְרָ֖א סִיסְרָא (H5516): Strong's gives it as “the name of a Canaanitish king and of one of the Nethinim,” and the register is that second bearer. Cambridge suggests the house came “possibly from the inhabitants of Northern Canaan.” English prints Sisera and lets the reader make the connection or miss it.
תָֽמַח תָמַח is Temah, which Cambridge suspects refers to “an Arabian clan,” comparing the Tema of Job and Isaiah. Another gentilic hiding inside what looks like a family name.
בְּנֵי־ The formula binds these foreign names into Israel's roll with the identical wording used for the sons of Parosh and the sons of Jedaiah. Hebrew makes no distinction of dignity anywhere in this chapter; only the section headings rank the classes.

54

the descendants of Neziah, and the descendants of Hatipha.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê nə·ṣî·aḥ bə·nê ḥă·ṭî·p̄ā

Word by word4 · parsed

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

נְצִ֖יחַnə·ṣî·aḥof NeziahH5335

√ nᵉtsîyach — Netsiach, a Temple-servantNounpropermasculine singular

Neziah. Nothing is known of the house beyond the name and its place in the order.

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêand the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חֲטִיפָֽא׃ḥă·ṭî·p̄āof HatiphaH2412

√ Chăṭîyphâʼ — Chatipha, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Hatipha, closing thirty-five houses of temple servants whose combined strength, with Solomon's servants, v. 58 will give as 392. K&D calculates that this averages between eight and nine persons a family.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Neziah, sons-of Hatipha.”

Where the English smooths the original

נְצִ֖יחַ נְצִיחַ (H5335) closes the Nethinim roll with a name built on consonants of enduring and pre-eminence, though the lexicon gives only “Netsiach, a Temple-servant.” The English ends a long list on a flat syllable.
חֲטִיפָֽא חֲטִיפָא is the thirty-fifth and last Nethinim house, and one more aleph-final name found nowhere in Scripture but here and Nehemiah 7:56. The list ends without any closing formula at all: the next verse simply begins a new class.
בְּנֵ֥י Twice in this verse, with no conjunction between the two houses in Hebrew; BSB supplies “and” before the last. The register's asyndeton makes the list feel endless, which is part of what it is doing.

55

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

These are mentioned in 1 Kings 9 as a servile class, formed of the residue of the Canaanites.

source ↗

Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

either of those strangers and proselytes whom Solomon used in the building of the temple, 1 Kings 9:21 , to the service of which, as some add, he devoted them, as there should be occasion hereafter; or others who had lived in Solomon’s family, and after his death called themselves and their families by that name, as esteeming it, a great honour to them that they had been servants to so great a prince.

source ↗

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Solomon formed the remnant of the Canaanitish population which survived at his day into a separate servile class, which he employed in forced labours

source ↗

The descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, the descendants of Hassophereth, the descendants of Peruda,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ‘aḇ·ḏê šə·lō·mōh bə·nê- sō·ṭay bə·nê- has·sō·p̄e·reṯ bə·nê p̄ə·rū·ḏā

Word by word9 · parsed

בְּנֵ֖יbə·nêThe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

עַבְדֵ֣י‘aḇ·ḏêof the servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural construct

ʻebed: servant, slave Ellicott derives the class from “the residue of the Canaanites” of 1 Kings 9 and judges them “probably inferior to the Nethinims.” Pulpit says the same, adding that they had “become attached to the sacerdotal order, as a body of hieroduli inferior even to the Nethinims.” Poole offers the kinder alternative that the name was worn with pride.

שְׁלֹמֹ֑הšə·lō·mōhof SolomonH8010

√ Shᵉlômôh — Shelomah, David's successorNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

סֹטַ֥יsō·ṭayof SotaiH5479

√ Çôwṭay — Sotai, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

הַסֹּפֶ֖רֶתhas·sō·p̄e·reṯof HassopherethH5618

√ Çôphereth — Sophereth, a temple servantArticleNounpropermasculine singular

Çôphereth: the scribe (feminine) ⚙ A hereditary office turned into a family name, and a feminine one, which Cambridge notes is characteristic of this whole class of names. The house of the scribe stands in a chapter whose entire crisis is a lost written record.

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

פְרוּדָֽא׃p̄ə·rū·ḏāof PerudaH6514

√ Pᵉrûwdâʼ — Peruda or Perida, one of 'Solomon's servants'Nounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Sons-of servants-of Solomon: sons-of Sotai, sons-of the-Scribe-woman, sons-of Peruda,”

Where the English smooths the original

עַבְדֵ֣י שְׁלֹמֹ֑ה עַבְדֵי שְׁלֹמֹה, “servants of Solomon,” using ʻebed, the ordinary word for a slave. The heading is a genitive of ownership three centuries out of date: their master had been dead some four hundred years, and the class still carried his name.
הַסֹּפֶ֖רֶת הַסֹּפֶרֶת is the only house in the chapter whose name takes the definite article: literally “the Sophereth,” a feminine form of the word for a scribe. Cambridge corrects the older English to Hassophereth, keeping the article. BSB's “Hassophereth” preserves the sound and not the fact that this is a title, not a name.
בְּנֵ֖י עַבְדֵ֣י Two construct words in sequence: sons of servants of Solomon, a double subordination that English renders as “the descendants of the servants of Solomon” with two prepositions. Hebrew stacks the dependency without a single particle.

56

the descendants of Jaala, the descendants of Darkon, the descendants of Giddel,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- ya‘·lāh ḇə·nê- ḏar·qō·wn bə·nê ḡid·dêl

Word by word6 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

יַעְלָ֥הya‘·lāhof JaalaH3279

√ Yaʻălâʼ — Jaala or Jaalah, one of the NethinimNounpropermasculine singular

Jaalah, spelled Jaala in some witnesses; another feminine-ending name in this class.

בְנֵי־ḇə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

דַרְק֖וֹןḏar·qō·wnof DarkonH1874

√ Darqôwn — Darkon, one of 'Solomon's servants'Nounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

גִדֵּֽל׃ḡid·dêlof GiddelH1435

√ Giddêl — Giddel, the name of one of the Nethinim, also of one of 'Solomon's servants'Nounpropermasculine singular

Giddel. The duplication with v. 47 shows that the register's two servile classes were kept distinct in the source even where their names overlapped.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Jaalah, sons-of Darkon, sons-of Giddel,”

Where the English smooths the original

יַעְלָ֥ה יַעְלָה (H3279) is a feminine form of the word for a mountain goat or ibex, though the lexicon records only “Jaala or Jaalah.” It is the second name in two verses (with Pochereth-hazzebaim in v. 57) that belongs to the world of hunting; English carries neither.
דַרְק֖וֹן דַרְקוֹן (H1874) is expressly glossed in the lexicon as “one of ‘Solomon's servants’,” a case where the dictionary can say nothing about a man except which servile class he headed.
גִדֵּֽל גִדֵּל here is the second Giddel of the chapter; the first stood at v. 47 among the Nethinim. The two classes, closely related and counted together at v. 58, share a house name and are nevertheless listed apart.

57

the descendants of Shephatiah, the descendants of Hattil, the descendants of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the descendants of Ami.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê šə·p̄aṭ·yāh ḇə·nê- ḥaṭ·ṭîl bə·nê pō·ḵe·reṯ haṣ·ṣə·ḇā·yîm bə·nê ’ā·mî

Word by word9 · parsed

בְּנֵ֧יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

שְׁפַטְיָ֣הšə·p̄aṭ·yāhof ShephatiahH8203

√ Shᵉphaṭyâh — Shephatjah, the name of ten IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Shephatiah, sharing a name with the lay house of v. 4.

בְנֵֽי־ḇə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חַטִּ֗ילḥaṭ·ṭîlof HattilH2411

√ Chaṭṭîyl — Chattil, one of 'Solomon's servants'Nounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֛יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

פֹּכֶ֥רֶתpō·ḵe·reṯvvvH6380

√ Pôkereth Tsᵉbâyîym — Pokereth-Tsebajim, one of the 'servants of Solomon'

הַצְּבָיִ֖יםhaṣ·ṣə·ḇā·yîmof Pochereth-hazzebaimH6380

√ Pôkereth Tsᵉbâyîym — Pokereth-Tsebajim, one of the 'servants of Solomon'Nounpropermasculine singular

Pôkereth Tsᵉbâyîym: catcher of gazelles ⚙ Of all the names in this chapter, this is the one that most clearly preserves what a family actually did. Cambridge records that the Septuagint, “quite misunderstanding the title,” split it into two names. A register compiled to fix identity contains a title its earliest translators could not parse.

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêand the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

אָמִֽי׃’ā·mîof AmiH532

√ ʼÂmîy — Ami, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Shephatiah, sons-of Hattil, sons-of Pochereth-ha-Zebaim, sons-of Ami.”

Where the English smooths the original

פֹּכֶ֥רֶת הַצְּבָיִ֖ים Two words under one Strong's number (H6380), which is why the first is marked “vvv.” Cambridge: “The name denotes ‘the gazelle hunter’,” and K&D translates it “catcher of gazelles.” The second word carries the definite article, so it is literally Pochereth-of-the-Gazelles: a job description that became a surname. English gives an unpronounceable proper noun.
שְׁפַטְיָ֣ה שְׁפַטְיָה is the same name that headed a lay house of 372 at v. 4, Yah has judged. Here it belongs to a family of royal bondsmen. The register places the identical theophoric name at the top of the social order and near the bottom, and changes nothing about it.
אָמִֽי אָמִי (H532) closes the list of Solomon's servants and appears in Nehemiah 7:59 as Amon, which K&D notes. The last name of the last servile class is transmitted in two forms.

58

The temple servants and descendants of the servants of Solomon numbered 392 in all.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

han·nə·ṯî·nîm ū·ḇə·nê ‘aḇ·ḏê šə·lō·mōh šə·lōš mê·’ō·wṯ tiš·‘îm ū·šə·nā·yim kāl-

Word by word9 · parsed

הַנְּתִינִ֔יםhan·nə·ṯî·nîmThe temple servantsH5411

√ Nâthîyn — the Nethinim, or Temple-servants (as given to that duty)ArticleNounmasculine plural

Nâthîyn: the given ones The second and last occurrence of the class name, closing the section it opened at v. 43.

וּבְנֵ֖יū·ḇə·nêand descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct

עַבְדֵ֣י‘aḇ·ḏêof the servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural construct

שְׁלֹמֹ֑הšə·lō·mōhof SolomonH8010

√ Shᵉlômôh — Shelomah, David's successorNounpropermasculine singular

שְׁלֹ֥שׁšə·lōš[numbered] 392H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeNumberfeminine singular construct

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

תִּשְׁעִ֥יםtiš·‘îm. . .H8673

√ tishʻîym — ninetyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃סū·šə·nā·yim. . .H8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoConjunctive wawNumbermd

כָּ֨ל־kāl-in allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

kôl: all, the whole The chapter's three totalling words (v. 42, here, v. 64) mark its three levels of summary: one class, two classes, and the whole congregation.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“All the-given-ones and-sons-of servants-of Solomon: three hundreds ninety and-two.”

Where the English smooths the original

כָּ֨ל־ כָּל, “all,” stands last in the Hebrew word order of this verse as the interlinear presents it, exactly as הַכֹּל did at v. 42. English must put “in all” at the end of an English clause, which happens to match; but the pattern of a summing word closing a section is a feature of the document, and it returns a third time at v. 64.
הַנְּתִינִ֔ים וּבְנֵ֖י עַבְדֵ֣י שְׁלֹמֹ֑ה Two classes, one total. Cambridge notes the servants of Solomon are elsewhere simply absorbed under the wider term Nethinim; here they are listed separately and counted together. The English keeps the distinction and the merger both, as the Hebrew does.
שְׁלֹ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת תִּשְׁעִ֥ים וּשְׁנָֽיִם Three hundreds ninety and-two: forty-five houses sharing 392 people. K&D does the arithmetic: “each family could only have averaged from eight to nine individuals.” Four Hebrew words, and a household-sized average behind every name in the preceding fifteen verses.

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The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

They were of the Jewish religion, and probably were the children of those who had been carried captive before the general captivity; but they had lost their genealogies, and could not show from what families they were derived, and therefore could not obtain any certain possession in Judea, as those did who knew and could show to what family and city they belonged.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

They were able to show their recent ancestry, but not their descent from the great clans or households into which the tribes were divided. They could not prove either of the two greatest essentials in a Jewish genealogy, their place in the household or their membership in a tribe.

source ↗

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

It is more surprising that so many of the returning exiles had preserved their genealogies than that a certain number had omitted to do so.

source ↗

The following came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but they could not prove that their families were descended from Israel:

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’êl·leh hā·‘ō·lîm mit·têl me·laḥ têl ḥar·šā kə·rūḇ ’ad·dān ’im·mêr wə·lō yā·ḵə·lū lə·hag·gîḏ bêṯ- ’ă·ḇō·w·ṯām wə·zar·‘ām ’im mî·yiś·rā·’êl hêm

Word by word18 · parsed

וְאֵ֗לֶּהwə·’êl·lehThe followingH428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thoseConjunctive wawPronouncommon plural

הָֽעֹלִים֙hā·‘ō·lîmcame upH5927

√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

ʻâlâh: to go up The same articular participle as v. 1: these houses are counted among “the ones going up” before their problem is stated. ⚙ The order of the sentence is itself a ruling. They are named as returnees first, and only then as unable to prove it.

מִתֵּ֥לmit·têlvvvH8528

√ Têl Melach — Tel-Melach, a place in BabyloniaPreposition

מֶ֙לַח֙me·laḥfrom Tel-melahH8528

√ Têl Melach — Tel-Melach, a place in BabyloniaPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

תֵּ֣לtêlvvvH8521

√ Têl Charshâʼ — Tel-Charsha, a place in Babylonia

חַרְשָׁ֔אḥar·šāTel-harshaH8521

√ Têl Charshâʼ — Tel-Charsha, a place in BabyloniaNounproperfeminine singular

כְּר֥וּבkə·rūḇCherubH3743

√ Kᵉrûwb — Kerub, a place in BabylonNounproperfeminine singular

אַדָּ֖ן’ad·dānAddanH135

√ ʼAddân — Addan, an IsraeliteNounproperfeminine singular

אִמֵּ֑ר’im·mêrand ImmerH564

√ ʼImmêr — Immer, the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

וְלֹ֣אwə·lōbut they could notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

יָֽכְל֗וּyā·ḵə·lū. . .H3201

√ yâkôl — to be able, literally (can, could) or morally (may, might)VerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

לְהַגִּ֤ידlə·hag·gîḏproveH5046

√ nâgad — properly, to front, iPreposition-lVerbHifilInfinitive construct

nâgad: to set before, declare (Hiphil) The verb of public declaration. What fails here is not their memory but their paperwork; K&D quotes Clericus to the effect that they had long followed the Jewish religion and reckoned themselves Jews, but could produce no genealogical tables.

בֵּית־bêṯ-that their familiesH1004

√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct

House of their fathers, the standard unit of the Israelite genealogical system.

אֲבוֹתָם֙’ă·ḇō·w·ṯām. . .H1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

וְזַרְעָ֔םwə·zar·‘āmwere descendedH2233

√ zeraʻ — seedConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine plural

zeraʻ: seed, offspring The covenant word. Six hundred and fifty-two people could not show that they were of the seed of Israel, and were brought home anyway. Cambridge: “They were not refused participation in the Return,” though their names never appear in the later lists.

אִ֥ם’im. . .H518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֖לmî·yiś·rā·’êlfrom IsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

הֵֽם׃hêm. . .H1992

√ hêm — they (only used when emphatic)Pronounthird person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-these the-ones-going-up from-Tel-Melah, Tel-Harsha, Cherub, Addan, Immer; and-not they-were-able to-declare house-of their-fathers and-their-seed, whether from-Israel they [were].”

Where the English smooths the original

וְאֵ֗לֶּה הָֽעֹלִים֙ The verse opens with the exact words of v. 1, וְאֵלֶּה הָעֹלִים, “and these are the ones going up.” The register repeats its own title formula in order to attach these houses to it. BSB's “The following came up from” breaks the echo, and with it the deliberate insistence that these too belong to the return.
לְהַגִּ֤יד לְהַגִּיד is Hiphil infinitive construct of nâgad, whose root sense Strong's gives as “properly, to front,” hence to declare or set before. BSB's “prove” is a legal reading of a verb that means to set a thing forth publicly. They could not put forward their father's house; whether it existed is another question.
וְזַרְעָ֔ם וְזַרְעָם is “and their seed,” zeraʻ, the word of the covenant promises to Abraham and David. BSB renders the pair “that their families were descended,” which is the sense; the loss is that the Hebrew makes the missing document a question about seed, the very term in which the promises were made.
מִתֵּ֥ל מֶ֙לַח֙ תֵּ֣ל חַרְשָׁ֔א Two compound Babylonian place names, each two words with one Strong's number, which Cambridge translates “Salthill and Forest-hill.” English keeps them as opaque transliterations. K&D judges that Cherub, Addan and Immer are likewise “names of places,” though he cannot say whether they are one place or three.

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the descendants of Delaiah, the descendants of Tobiah, and the descendants of Nekoda, 652 in all.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- ḏə·lā·yāh ḇə·nê- ṭō·w·ḇî·yāh bə·nê nə·qō·w·ḏā šêš mê·’ō·wṯ ḥă·miš·šîm ū·šə·nā·yim

Word by word10 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

דְלָיָ֥הḏə·lā·yāhof DelaiahH1806

√ Dᵉlâyâh — Delajah, the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Dᵉlâyâh: Yah has drawn out ⚙ Three houses, six hundred and fifty-two souls, two of them named after confessions of Israel's God, and no document to show for it. Gill puts the situation exactly: “though their immediate parents were known, yet by their being mentioned here, it seems as if they could not carry their genealogy further.”

בְנֵי־ḇə·nê-the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

טוֹבִיָּ֖הṭō·w·ḇî·yāhof TobiahH2900

√ Ṭôwbîyâh — Tobijah, the name of three Israelites and of one SamaritanNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêand the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

נְקוֹדָ֑אnə·qō·w·ḏāof NekodaH5353

√ Nᵉqôwdâʼ — Nekoda, a Temple-servantNounpropermasculine singular

Nᵉqôwdâʼ: Nekoda The same name as the Nethinim house of v. 48, which Cambridge and K&D both suspect lay behind the objection raised against this family: they may have been challenged as temple servants claiming free Israelite status.

שֵׁ֥שׁšêš652 [in all]H8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Numberfeminine singular

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

חֲמִשִּׁ֥יםḥă·miš·šîm. . .H2572

√ chămishshîym — fiftyNumbercommon plural

וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃סū·šə·nā·yim. . .H8147

√ shᵉnayim — twoConjunctive wawNumbermd

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“sons-of Delaiah, sons-of Tobiah, sons-of Nekoda: six hundreds fifty and-two.”

Where the English smooths the original

דְלָיָ֥ה דְלָיָה (H1806) is Yah has drawn out, or delivered. The first of the three houses that could not prove they were Israel bears a name confessing Israel's God as rescuer. The English transliteration carries a sound and drops a testimony.
טוֹבִיָּ֖ה טוֹבִיָּה (H2900) is Yah is good, and Strong's notes it is “the name of three Israelites and of one Samaritan.” The lexicon's own hesitation is the verse's problem in a word: this name was borne on both sides of the line these families could not prove they were inside.
שֵׁ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים וּשְׁנָֽיִם Six hundreds fifty and-two. Nehemiah reads 642. More people stand in this doubtful line than in twenty of the certain houses of vv. 3 to 35, and English and Hebrew alike record the figure without a word of comment.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Barzillai’s position and estates in Gilead were inherited by his daughters, through whom their father’s name was preserved. One of them was married to a priest, who thereupon received the family name. His descendants however were unable to make out their claim to belong to the priesthood

source ↗

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Rather, after her name, she having been probably an heiress.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

He preferred that name to that of his own family, deeming it a greater distinction to be connected with so noble a family, than to be of the house of Levi. But by this worldly ambition he forfeited the dignity and advantages of the priesthood.

JFB, Poole and Geneva all read the name change as worldly ambition punished; the Hebrew verb is passive and assigns no motive, so this is interpretation and is marked as such.

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

because the priest's office was held in contempt these would have changed their estate by their name, and so by God's just judgment lost both the estimation of the world and the dignity of their office.

source ↗

And from among the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai (who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by their name).

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·mib·bə·nê hak·kō·hă·nîm bə·nê ḥo·ḇay·yāh bə·nê haq·qō·wṣ bə·nê ḇar·zil·lay ’ă·šer lā·qaḥ ’iš·šāh mib·bə·nō·wṯ bar·zil·lay hag·gil·‘ā·ḏî way·yiq·qā·rê ‘al- šə·mām

Word by word17 · parsed

וּמִבְּנֵי֙ū·mib·bə·nêAnd fromH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive waw, Preposition-mNounmasculine plural construct

הַכֹּ֣הֲנִ֔יםhak·kō·hă·nîmamong the priestsH3548

√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestArticleNounmasculine plural

בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

חֳבַיָּ֖הḥo·ḇay·yāhof HobaiahH2252

√ Chăbayâh — Chabajah, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

הַקּ֑וֹץhaq·qō·wṣof HakkozH6976

√ Qôwts — Kots, the name of two IsraelitesArticleNounpropermasculine singular

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêand the descendantsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

בַרְזִלַּ֗יḇar·zil·layof BarzillaiH1271

√ Barzillay — Barzillai, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

אֲשֶׁ֣ר’ă·šerwhoH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

לָ֠קַחlā·qaḥhad marriedH3947

√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

lâqach: to take The single act on which three verses turn. K&D argues that by this marriage the priest “had not renounced for himself and his descendants his priestly privileges,” since his posterity claimed them; what it did was cast doubt sufficient to require documentary proof.

אִשָּׁ֔ה’iš·šāh. . .H802

√ ʼishshâh — a womanNounfeminine singular

מִבְּנ֞וֹתmib·bə·nō·wṯa daughterH1323

√ bath — a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)Preposition-mNounfeminine plural construct

בַּרְזִלַּ֤יbar·zil·layof BarzillaiH1271

√ Barzillay — Barzillai, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

הַגִּלְעָדִי֙hag·gil·‘ā·ḏîthe GileaditeH1569

√ Gilʻâdîy — a Giladite or descendant of GiladArticleNounpropermasculine singular

Gilʻâdîy: Gileadite Barzillai the Gileadite fed David's army in flight from Absalom and refused his reward. Cambridge notes his estates passed to his daughters, “through whom their father's name was preserved.” ⚙ A house named after one of the most generous men in Israel's history is the house that could not prove it was priestly.

וַיִּקָּרֵ֖אway·yiq·qā·rêand was calledH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

qârâʼ: to call, name (Niphal) Passive voice. A house lost its standing because of what it came to be called, and the verb declines to say who did the calling.

עַל־‘al-byH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

שְׁמָֽם׃šə·māmtheir nameH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-from-sons-of the-priests: sons-of Hobaiah, sons-of Hakkoz, sons-of Barzillai, who he-took a-woman from-daughters-of Barzillai the-Gileadite, and-he-was-called upon their-name.”

Where the English smooths the original

לָ֠קַח אִשָּׁ֔ה לָקַח אִשָּׁה is the plain Hebrew idiom “he took a woman,” the standard phrase for marrying. BSB's “had married” is correct and colourless; the Hebrew verb lâqach is the same word used for taking anything at all, and it puts the man's act, not a state of being married, in the foreground of the sentence that cost his house the priesthood.
וַיִּקָּרֵ֖א וַיִּקָּרֵא is Niphal, passive: “and he was called,” not “he called himself.” BSB's “was called by their name” keeps the passive; Geneva, JFB and Poole nevertheless read deliberate ambition into it. ⚙ The grammar is more neutral than the commentators: something was done to his name, and the verse does not say by whom.
עַל־שְׁמָֽם Literally “upon their name,” with a plural suffix. Ellicott and K&D both note the suffix refers back to the daughters of Barzillai: the priest took the name of his wife's family, which Ellicott explains by supposing “she having been probably an heiress.” English “by their name” obscures whose name it was.
הַקּ֑וֹץ הַקּוֹץ carries the article, Hakkoz, “the Koz,” and Cambridge identifies it as the seventh priestly course of 1 Chronicles 24:10. BSB drops the article in “Hakkoz,” which is standard practice and which hides that the family's claim was to a numbered course of the temple rota.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

They were declared to be polluted from the priesthood, i.e., they were excluded from the priesthood as polluted or unclean.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

they searched for their genealogy in the priestly book, which went by the name of ‘The Enrolled’, or as we should now call it ‘The Register’.

source ↗

Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

The Jews were generally very exact and careful in their genealogies, partly from their own choice and interest, that they might preserve the distinctions of the several tribes and families, which was necessary both to make out their claims or titles to offices or inheritances, which might belong to them by death, or otherwise, as here we see, and to govern themselves thereby in the matter of marriages, and some other things wherein the practice of some laws required the knowledge of these things; and partly by the special providence of God, that so it might be certainly known of what tribe and family the Messiah was born.

Poole's closing reason, that God's providence kept the pedigrees so the Messiah's descent could be known, is a theological reading of the practice and is quoted as his, not asserted as the text's own statement.

source ↗

These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’êl·leh biq·šū ḵə·ṯā·ḇām ham·miṯ·yaḥ·śîm wə·lō nim·ṣā·’ū way·ḡō·’ă·lū min- hak·kə·hun·nāh

Word by word9 · parsed

אֵ֗לֶּה’êl·lehThese [men]H428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thosePronouncommon plural

בִּקְשׁ֧וּbiq·šūsearched forH1245

√ bâqash — to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer)VerbPielPerfectthird person common plural

bâqash: to seek, search out Piel intensive. The same verb Scripture uses for seeking God's face is used here for hunting a genealogy, and the search comes up empty.

כְתָבָ֛םḵə·ṯā·ḇāmtheir family recordsH3791

√ kâthâb — something written, iNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine plural

הַמִּתְיַחְשִׂ֖יםham·miṯ·yaḥ·śîm. . .H3187

√ yâchas — to enroll by pedigreeArticleVerbHitpaelParticiplemasculine plural

yâchas: to enroll by pedigree (Hitpael) A participle naming the class of the enrolled, which Cambridge takes as the title of the priestly book itself. ⚙ The chapter we are reading is a register; the register these men needed was a different one, and it was gone.

וְלֹ֣אwə·lōbut they could notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

נִמְצָ֑אוּnim·ṣā·’ūfind themH4672

√ mâtsâʼ — properly, to come forth to, iVerbNifalPerfectthird person common plural

וַֽיְגֹאֲל֖וּway·ḡō·’ă·lūand so were excludedH1351

√ gâʼal — to soil or (figuratively) desecrateConjunctive wawVerbPualConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

gâʼal: to soil, desecrate (Pual) The lexicon supplied with this unit gives H1351, to defile, and nothing else; no other sense is claimed here. The passive is the mercy in the sentence: nobody says they were frauds, only that they were, as the text has it, defiled away from the office, pending evidence.

מִן־min-fromH4480

√ min — properly, a part ofPreposition

הַכְּהֻנָּֽה׃hak·kə·hun·nāhthe priesthood {as unclean}H3550

√ kᵉhunnâh — priesthoodArticleNounfeminine singular

kᵉhunnâh: priesthood The abstract noun, the office itself rather than the men who hold it.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“These they-sought their-writing, the-ones-enrolling-themselves, and-not they-were-found; and-they-were-defiled from the-priesthood.”

Where the English smooths the original

בִּקְשׁ֧וּ בִּקְשׁוּ is Piel, the intensive stem of bâqash, which Strong's glosses “to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer).” Not a glance at a ledger: a ransacking. BSB's “searched for” is right and understated.
כְתָבָ֛ם הַמִּתְיַחְשִׂ֖ים Two words BSB compresses into “their family records.” כְתָבָם is “their writing,” and הַמִּתְיַחְשִׂים is a Hitpael participle of yâchas, “to enroll by pedigree,” in apposition to it. Cambridge translates the phrase “their writing, the enrolled,” and takes the second word as the register's actual title, “as we should now call it ‘The Register’.”
וַֽיְגֹאֲל֖וּ וַיְגֹאֲלוּ is Pual, passive of the intensive, from H1351, which Strong's glosses “to soil or (figuratively) desecrate,” and it is construed with min: they were defiled away from the priesthood. K&D notes that “the construction of the Pual with מן is significant.” BSB's “were excluded from the priesthood as unclean” unpacks in six words what Hebrew does with one verb and one preposition.
נִמְצָ֑אוּ נִמְצָאוּ is Niphal of mâtsâʼ, “they were not found,” with the records as subject, not the men. English “they could not find them” makes the men the actors and the documents the object; Hebrew makes the documents the ones that failed to appear.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Hereby it appears, that the Urim and Thummim were lost in the destruction of the city and temple, though the Jews fed themselves with hopes of recovering them, but in vain. And by the want of that oracle, they were taught to expect the great oracle, the Messiah.

source ↗

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

But the holy of holies in the new temple never had in it the ancient “tokens “; and by Urim and Thummim Jehovah was never again inquired of.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

and who is come, the true High Priest, and with whom are the true Urim and Thummim, lights and perfections to the highest degree, being full of grace and truth

Gill is applying the Talmudic saying he has just quoted; the identification of the awaited priest with Christ is his reading, offered here as the named voice of an interpreter and not as a claim of the Hebrew text.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

A priest excluded from eating of ‘the most holy things’ was therefore only a priest by title and lineage. He could not be consecrated (see Exodus 29), he could not offer sacrifices, he could not enter the holy place.

source ↗

The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest to consult the Urim and Thummim.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hat·tir·šā·ṯā way·yō·mer lā·hem ’ă·šer lō- yō·ḵə·lū miq·qō·ḏeš haq·qo·ḏā·šîm ‘aḏ ‘ă·mōḏ kō·hên lə·’ū·rîm ū·lə·ṯum·mîm

Word by word13 · parsed

הַתִּרְשָׁ֙תָא֙hat·tir·šā·ṯāThe governorH8660

√ Tirshâthâʼ — Tirshatha, the title of a Persian deputy or governorArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

Tirshâthâʼ: the Persian governor Every commentator in the brief identifies him with Zerubbabel, and Cambridge's reason is the decisive one: a ruling of this kind could come only from “a native Governor or the High-priest himself.” ⚙ A Persian title is the instrument by which the purity of Israel's altar is guarded, which is the political situation of the whole chapter in one word.

וַיֹּ֤אמֶרway·yō·merorderedH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

לָהֶ֔םlā·hemthem

Prepositionthird person masculine plural

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

לֹא־lō-notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

יֹאכְל֖וּyō·ḵə·lūto eatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

They shall not eat: imperfect with the negative, a standing prohibition rather than a single refusal.

מִקֹּ֣דֶשׁmiq·qō·ḏešthe most holy thingsH6944

√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

הַקֳּדָשִׁ֑יםhaq·qo·ḏā·šîm. . .H6944

√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingArticleNounmasculine plural

עַ֛ד‘aḏuntilH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

עֲמֹ֥ד‘ă·mōḏ. . .H5975

√ ʻâmad — to stand, in various relations (literal and figurative, intransitive and transitive)VerbQalInfinitive construct

ʻâmad: to stand, take one's stand The infinitive on which the whole suspension hangs. K&D explains why no priest could stand so: the oracle was tied by God's own word to the ark and its mercy-seat, and the ark was destroyed with Solomon's temple. The office survived; the means of asking did not.

כֹּהֵ֖ןkō·hênthere was a priestH3548

√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestNounmasculine singular

לְאוּרִ֥יםlə·’ū·rîmto consult the UrimH224

√ ʼÛwrîym — Urim, the oracular brilliancy of the figures in the high-priest's breastplatePreposition-lNounmasculine plural

ʼÛwrîym: Urim, lights Barnes reports the rabbinic judgement that the second temple permanently lacked them, and Ellicott states it flatly: “by Urim and Thummim Jehovah was never again inquired of.” Gill cites the Talmudic saying that “until there stood up a priest” amounts to saying “until the dead rise, or the Messiah comes.”

וּלְתֻמִּֽים׃ū·lə·ṯum·mîmand ThummimH8550

√ Tummîym — perfections, iConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounmasculine plural

Tummîym: Thummim, perfections The second half of the pair, lights and perfections. Benson draws the conclusion the older exegesis drew from the whole verse: “by the want of that oracle, they were taught to expect the great oracle, the Messiah.”

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-said the-Tirshatha to-them that not they-shall-eat from-holy-of the-holy-things until stands a-priest for-Urim and-for-Thummim.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַתִּרְשָׁ֙תָא֙ הַתִּרְשָׁתָא (H8660) is not Hebrew but a Persian title, always with the article, “the Tirshatha,” which Strong's renders “the title of a Persian deputy or governor.” Pulpit and K&D derive it from a root meaning to fear, so that it names the man by the awe his office carried. BSB's “The governor” is accurate and naturalises a foreign word the Hebrew leaves foreign.
מִקֹּ֣דֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁ֑ים מִקֹּדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים is the superlative construction, “from holy-of the-holies,” the same shape as the name of the innermost sanctuary. Cambridge specifies what it covers here: the sin and guilt offerings, the showbread, the incense, the drink offering. The English “the most holy things” is right, and the reader should hear the grammar of the holy of holies inside it.
עֲמֹ֥ד כֹּהֵ֖ן עֲמֹד כֹּהֵן is an infinitive construct: “until the standing of a priest,” literally until a priest stands up. K&D notes that in later Hebrew ʻâmad serves where earlier usage had qûm, to arise. BSB's “until there was a priest” turns a verb of rising into a verb of existing, and the difference matters: what is awaited is not a man but an act.
לְאוּרִ֥ים וּלְתֻמִּֽים Each noun takes its own lamed: “for Urim and for Thummim,” both plural. Strong's glosses them “the oracular brilliancy of the figures in the high-priest's breastplate” and “perfections.” BSB's “to consult the Urim and Thummim” supplies the verb of consulting that the Hebrew leaves to the preposition.

64

The whole assembly numbered 42,360,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kāl- haq·qā·hāl kə·’e·ḥāḏ ’ar·ba‘ rib·bō·w ’al·pa·yim šə·lōš- mê·’ō·wṯ šiš·šîm

Word by word9 · parsed

כָּל־kāl-The wholeH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

הַקָּהָ֖לhaq·qā·hālassemblyH6951

√ qâhâl — assemblage (usually concretely)ArticleNounmasculine singular

qâhâl: assembly, congregation ⚙ The word chosen for the total is the word for Israel gathered before God. Whatever the arithmetic does, the noun makes a claim: this is not a caravan, it is the congregation.

כְּאֶחָ֑דkə·’e·ḥāḏ[numbered]H259

√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iPreposition-kNumbermasculine singular

ʼechâd: one Reckoned as one. The same lexeme closed the entry for Ramah and Geba at v. 26.

אַרְבַּ֣ע’ar·ba‘42,360 {}H702

√ ʼarbaʻ — fourNumberfeminine singular construct

רִבּ֔וֹאrib·bō·w. . .H7239

√ ribbôw — a myriad, iNumberfeminine singular

ribbôw: myriad, ten thousand The total stands at 42,360 in Ezra, Nehemiah and 1 Esdras alike, while the three lists of items reach 29,818, 31,089 and about 30,143. Cambridge tabulates all three and calls the agreement of the totals “undoubtedly strange.” Barnes concludes the original was damaged; K&D accepts the total precisely because all three witnesses give it, and rejects the harmonising explanations. No reconciliation is offered here.

אַלְפַּ֖יִם’al·pa·yim. . .H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermd

שְׁלֹשׁ־šə·lōš-. . .H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeNumberfeminine singular construct

מֵא֥וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

שִׁשִּֽׁים׃šiš·šîm. . .H8346

√ shishshîym — sixtyNumbercommon plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“All the-assembly as-one: four myriads, two-thousand three hundreds sixty.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַקָּהָ֖ל הַקָּהָל (H6951) is the covenant word for the gathered congregation, the term used of Israel assembled at Sinai and rendered ekklēsia by the Greek translators. BSB's “assembly” is right but neutral; in Hebrew this is the first time in the chapter that the forty-two thousand are called anything other than sons, men or servants.
כְּאֶחָ֑ד כְּאֶחָד is “as one,” from ʼechâd. The interlinear can only gloss it “[numbered],” because English has no room for it. K&D notes the same idiom at Ezra 3:9 and 6:20. ⚙ After sixty verses of division into houses, towns, courses, guilds and castes, the register's last act is to say that the whole of it counted as a single thing.
אַרְבַּ֣ע רִבּ֔וֹא רִבּוֹא (H7239) is a myriad, ten thousand, so the figure is built as “four myriads, two thousand, three hundreds, sixty.” English 42,360 uses place value; Hebrew stacks four separate magnitudes, which is exactly the kind of structure that corrupts easily in copying.

65

in addition to their 7,337 menservants and maidservants, as well as their 200 male and female singers.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mil·lə·ḇaḏ ’êl·leh šiḇ·‘aṯ ’ă·lā·p̄îm šə·lōš mê·’ō·wṯ šə·lō·šîm wə·šiḇ·‘āh ‘aḇ·ḏê·hem wə·’am·hō·ṯê·hem mā·ṯā·yim wə·lā·hem mə·šō·rə·rîm ū·mə·šō·rə·rō·wṯ

Word by word14 · parsed

מִ֠לְּבַדmil·lə·ḇaḏin addition toH905

√ bad — properly, separationPreposition-m, Preposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

bad: separation, apart The word that keeps the slaves outside the total of v. 64. The congregation is 42,360; the people who walked with it were more.

אֵ֔לֶּה’êl·leh. . .H428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thosePronouncommon plural

שִׁבְעַ֣תšiḇ·‘aṯtheir 7,337H7651

√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Numbermasculine singular construct

אֲלָפִ֔ים’ă·lā·p̄îm. . .H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine plural

שְׁלֹ֥שׁšə·lōš. . .H7969

√ shâlôwsh — threeNumberfeminine singular construct

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

שְׁלֹשִׁ֣יםšə·lō·šîm. . .H7970

√ shᵉlôwshîym — thirtyNumbercommon plural

וְשִׁבְעָ֑הwə·šiḇ·‘āh. . .H7651

√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Conjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

עַבְדֵיהֶ֤ם‘aḇ·ḏê·hemmenservantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

וְאַמְהֹֽתֵיהֶם֙wə·’am·hō·ṯê·hemand maidservantsH519

√ ʼâmâh — a maidservant or female slaveConjunctive wawNounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine plural

ʼâmâh: maidservant, female slave Counted with the men under a single figure and never named. Of all the categories in this chapter, this is the one the register declines to itemise.

מָאתָֽיִם׃mā·ṯā·yimas well as their 200H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfd

וְלָהֶ֛םwə·lā·hem

Conjunctive wawPrepositionthird person masculine plural

מְשֹׁרְרִ֥יםmə·šō·rə·rîmmaleH7891

√ shîyr — to singVerbPielParticiplemasculine plural

וּֽמְשֹׁרְר֖וֹתū·mə·šō·rə·rō·wṯand female singersH7891

√ shîyr — to singConjunctive wawVerbPielParticiplefeminine plural

shîyr: to sing (Piel participle, feminine) Ellicott notes that such singers “were hired for lamentation as well as joy,” and floats the suggestion that they were brought “to supply the defect of Levites.” Pulpit thinks their services may have swelled the choruses of Ezra 3:10. Gill and Cambridge read them as household luxury. The verse itself only counts them.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Apart-from these: their-menservants and-their-maidservants, seven thousands three hundreds thirty and-seven; and-to-them two-hundred singing-men and-singing-women.”

Where the English smooths the original

מִ֠לְּבַד מִלְּבַד is built on bad, which Strong's glosses “properly, separation,” with two prepositions prefixed: literally “from to-apart-from.” BSB's “in addition to” reverses the angle. Hebrew says these seven thousand are set apart from the congregation just counted; they are carried on the roll but outside the number.
עַבְדֵיהֶ֤ם וְאַמְהֹֽתֵיהֶם֙ עַבְדֵיהֶם and אַמְהֹתֵיהֶם, their male and female slaves, both with possessive suffixes. BSB's “menservants and maidservants” softens ʻebed and ʼâmâh, the ordinary words for owned persons. ⚙ A community of 42,360 brought 7,337 slaves out of Babylon with them, and the register states it as plainly as it states the donkeys.
מְשֹׁרְרִ֥ים וּֽמְשֹׁרְר֖וֹת The same Piel participle of shîyr as v. 41, now in both genders: singing-men and singing-women. Cambridge is emphatic that these are not the Levitical guild but “professionals employed at banquets, feasts &c., or funerals,” a mark of luxury. One Hebrew word, two very different institutions, and English cannot distinguish them either.

66

They had 736 horses, 245 mules,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

šə·ḇa‘ mê·’ō·wṯ šə·lō·šîm wə·šiš·šāh sū·sê·hem mā·ṯa·yim ’ar·bā·‘îm wa·ḥă·miš·šāh pir·ḏê·hem

Word by word9 · parsed

שְׁבַ֥עšə·ḇa‘They had 736H7651

√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Numberfeminine singular construct

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

שְׁלֹשִׁ֣יםšə·lō·šîm. . .H7970

√ shᵉlôwshîym — thirtyNumbercommon plural

וְשִׁשָּׁ֑הwə·šiš·šāh. . .H8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Conjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

סוּסֵיהֶ֕םsū·sê·hemhorsesH5483

√ çûwç — a horse (as leaping)Nounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

çûwç: horse Cambridge observes that before this time the horse appears among the Israelites for war and pomp, not for travel, and reads the number as proof “of the presence of considerable wealth.” Gill reads the same numbers the other way: too few to carry more than the baggage, so “the far greatest part of them must walk on foot.” Both are looking at 736.

מָאתַ֖יִםmā·ṯa·yim245H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfd

אַרְבָּעִ֥ים’ar·bā·‘îm. . .H705

√ ʼarbâʻîym — fortyNumbercommon plural

וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה׃wa·ḥă·miš·šāh. . .H2568

√ châmêsh — fiveConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

פִּרְדֵיהֶ֕םpir·ḏê·hemmulesH6505

√ pered — a mule (perhaps from his lonely habits)Nounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

pered: mule The royal beast of David's and Solomon's court, here counted as transport.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Seven hundreds thirty and-six their-horses; two-hundred forty and-five their-mules;”

Where the English smooths the original

סוּסֵיהֶ֕ם סוּסֵיהֶם comes after its number in Hebrew: “seven hundred thirty and six, their-horses.” The noun with its possessive suffix follows the count, an inventory order English cannot keep. Strong's derives çûwç from leaping.
פִּרְדֵיהֶ֕ם פִּרְדֵיהֶם, their mules, from pered, which Strong's glosses “a mule (perhaps from his lonely habits).” Cambridge notes the mule was the royal animal of the monarchy, scarce and imported. Two hundred and forty-five of them came up from Babylon.
מָאתַ֖יִם אַרְבָּעִ֥ים וַחֲמִשָּֽׁה Two hundred forty and-five: the same figure that Nehemiah 7:67 gives for the singers, which K&D and Cambridge both suspect crept into that verse from this one when a copyist's eye slipped a line. The English digits carry no trace of the mechanism.

67

435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ar·ba‘ mê·’ō·wṯ šə·lō·šîm wa·ḥă·miš·šāh gə·mal·lê·hem šê·šeṯ ’ă·lā·p̄îm šə·ḇa‘ mê·’ō·wṯ wə·‘eś·rîm ḥă·mō·rîm

Word by word11 · parsed

אַרְבַּ֥ע’ar·ba‘435H702

√ ʼarbaʻ — fourNumberfeminine singular

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

שְׁלֹשִׁ֣יםšə·lō·šîm. . .H7970

√ shᵉlôwshîym — thirtyNumbercommon plural

וַחֲמִשָּׁ֑הwa·ḥă·miš·šāh. . .H2568

√ châmêsh — fiveConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular

גְּמַ֨לֵּיהֶ֔םgə·mal·lê·hemcamelsH1581

√ gâmâl — a camelNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

gâmâl: camel Cambridge sets the beast in its world: the camel of the Assyrian reliefs, the animal of merchants and of the raiders who took Job's oxen. It is the right animal for this journey and the register counts it last but one.

שֵׁ֣שֶׁתšê·šeṯand 6,720H8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Numbermasculine singular construct

אֲלָפִ֔ים’ă·lā·p̄îm. . .H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine plural

שְׁבַ֥עšə·ḇa‘. . .H7651

√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Numberfeminine singular construct

מֵא֖וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

וְעֶשְׂרִֽים׃פwə·‘eś·rîm. . .H6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyConjunctive wawNumbercommon plural

חֲמֹרִ֕יםḥă·mō·rîmdonkeysH2543

√ chămôwr — a male ass (from its dun red)Nounmasculine plural

chămôwr: donkey ⚙ The unit ends here, on livestock, with no doxology, no prayer, and no comment. Pulpit reads the ratios as poverty, roughly one donkey to every six people; Ellicott notes the asses are, as throughout earlier Hebrew history, “the chief and most numerous beasts of burden.” A chapter that opened with Nebuchadnezzar's name closes with six thousand seven hundred and twenty donkeys, and that flatness is the register's final statement about what restoration looked like on the road.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“four hundreds thirty and-five their-camels; six thousands seven hundreds and-twenty donkeys.”

Where the English smooths the original

גְּמַ֨לֵּיהֶ֔ם גְּמַלֵּיהֶם, “their camels,” again following its number and carrying a possessive suffix. Cambridge notes the camel “would be the most serviceable of all beasts for the long journey from Babylon, on account of its great endurance.” Four hundred and thirty-five of them for forty-two thousand people.
חֲמֹרִ֕ים The last word of the unit is חֲמֹרִים, donkeys, and it is the only animal in these two verses with no possessive suffix: not “their donkeys” but simply donkeys. Strong's derives the word from the beast's dun-red colour. The chapter that began with the king of Babylon ends on an unowned plural noun.
שֵׁ֣שֶׁת אֲלָפִ֔ים שֵׁשֶׁת אֲלָפִים, six thousands, the largest figure in the unit after the total itself. More donkeys than Levites, priests, singers, gatekeepers and temple servants combined, by a factor of more than ten.

Ezra2:1–67

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

i. A province, a Golah, a return — 2:1-2

ii. The roll of houses and the roll of towns — 2:3-35

iii. The ministers, in descending order — 2:36-58

iv. Those who could not prove it — 2:59-63

v. The sum that does not add — 2:64-67

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

The same roll, copied twice verbal / quotation: confirmed

Tel-melah, Cherub, Immer: the houses that could not prove it verbal / quotation: confirmed

Barzillai's name and Hakkoz's course verbal / quotation: confirmed

Sotai, Peruda and the servants of Solomon verbal / quotation: confirmed

Twelve names for two tribes structural / thematic: confirmed

Were the Nethinim the Gibeonites? flagged: verify source

The man named for Babylon, in the line of David ancient/widely-held

One hundred and twenty-three men of Bethlehem ancient/widely-held

Until a priest stands with Urim and Thummim ancient/widely-held

Sought in the register, and not found novel

Apparatus & Provenance