The children of Bethlehem, a hundred and twenty-three.
This verse is one line in a long register of families coming home from Babylon: a town and a number. Why would God keep such a list, and why does the town matter?
The chapter lists the people who left Babylon and came back to Judah. One commentator sees God's own joy behind the record:
He has kept this list on record. It is proof that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It shows too that He knows the very names of His people and proclaims them. That encourages everyone to walk in His ways, to be openly on His side, and to stay faithful in times of corruption and turning away from God.
Notice what the verse leaves out: it names none of the 123. The register gives a town or an ancestor, then a figure. The silence is not neglect:
Their individual names are not recorded but the Lord knows them all, and cared for each member and sustained them in the journey homeward. Even so He knows all His sheep and keeps every member of His body, leading them home to glory.
From here the register groups people by their home towns instead of by a family head. Bethlehem comes first, and the town carries more weight than its size suggests:
David was anointed in the house of Jesse the Bethlehemite, so it seems the town was his birthplace. That is why Luke 2:11 calls it the "city of David." It was also the birthplace of Jesus. Though it was "too little to be among the clans of Judah," that agreed all the better with His humiliation. Beth-lehem means "house of bread." That is a very fitting name for the place the Saviour would come from as a man — He who was the living bread that came down from heaven.
So the 123 were resettling the town where the Saviour would be born.
The chapter opens by saying each man returned to his own city. It ends with them settled in those towns, not crowded into Jerusalem. What matters is not the size of each group but what it meant:
The temple would have meant little if no one lived in the cities of Judah. The numbers in those cities would be small compared with their size before the captivity. Even so, each city would be a testimony to the restoring grace of God. Today too, each little assembly that God restores is a testimony to His grace and faithfulness. But such testimonies give us no reason for pride.
A number like 123 raises an objection. If the return was God's will, why did so few come home? One writer answers the charge that a minority cannot be right:
Faith does not look to the numbers for guidance, but to God's word.
Nehemiah later records the same return, and some of his figures do not match Ezra's. One commentator suggests a reason:
If some of the numbers do not agree with Nehemiah's record, there is no doubt a good reason for it. For instance, the descendants of Arah are 775 here, and in Nehemiah only 652. Probably 775 had enrolled their names, but only 652 went.
Later in the chapter some could not produce their family record, and they lost their place. These lists of families and towns settled who counted as an Israelite:
So we see that the remnant are careful to stand plain and clear as sons of the covenant. Their family descent in the line of promise mattered as much to them as being born of God matters to the Christian. Such jealous care had never been so necessary… only Israelites can be allowed to build a temple to the God of Israel.
Another writer applies this to a later day. A time of weakness "was not to be a day of negligence but of the greatest care." God's people were to be "as watchful and vigilant for His name as when things were in the full power and beauty of divine order."
- Counted — God kept this list. He takes joy in the smallest results of His own work, and He makes His people's names known.
- Known — the verse names no one, yet the Lord knew each of the 123 and carried them the whole way home. A number to us is a person to Him.
- Placed — they went back to Bethlehem, the little town of David and the future birthplace of the Saviour, the "house of bread."
- Few — a tiny group in a half-empty town was still a testimony to restoring grace. Faith measures by God's word, not by headcount.
- Proven — descent had to be provable, not assumed; a day of weakness called for more care about who belonged, not less.
The men of Netophah, fifty-six.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
The men of Anathoth, a hundred and twenty-eight.
Ezra 2 lists the people who returned from exile in Babylon, and verse 23 is one line of it: a town and a number. Why keep such a list at all, and why should 128 men from one small village be worth a verse of Scripture?
The register itself teaches something before any of its numbers do:
The first thing to notice is this. The very fact that this record exists shows how precious to God was the response His grace had produced in the hearts of His people. They may have entered only feebly into His thoughts about His house. Even so, He has caused this list to be preserved. It is evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It also shows that the names of His people are known and proclaimed, to encourage everyone to walk in His ways, to be identified with His interests, and to stay faithful in times of corruption and apostasy.
And what God writes down, He does not forget:
This chapter contains the names of the returning remnant. It is a specimen page of the records God keeps, and from which we may learn that He remembers His people, whom He knows by name and whose works are not forgotten by Him.
Verse 23 does not name an ancestor. It names a place — and that shift partway through the chapter is deliberate:
From verse 3 to verse 20 of chapter 2, the people are listed by the name of their fathers. From verse 21 to verse 34 they are listed by the name of their cities. Those listed by their cities went back to live in and re-people the cities they came from, once they had returned to Palestine.
So these 128 are not just travellers counted at a border. They are a town filling up again.
Anathoth was the home of the prophet Jeremiah, and it belonged to the priests:
Jeremiah is known as a prophet, but he belonged to the family of "the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin." As far as we know, he never acted as a priest. His village of Anathoth lay a little over three miles northeast of Jerusalem. It had been given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron, of the family of the Kohathites (Josh. 21:18; 1 Chron. 6:60). Abiathar the priest came from Anathoth (1 Kings 2:26). In Zerubbabel's time 128 of its people came back from captivity under the edict of Cyrus, king of Persia, and filled the village again.
The name itself carries a lesson:
Anathoth means "afflictions," and it answers to the cross. We have to take up our cross — how different to His, however — and to follow Him.
128 is a small number. So was the whole company, beside what Judah had once been:
To the casual observer it must have seemed quite a small matter: about 42,000 Jews restored to the land of their fathers under the leadership of Zerubbabel (Ezra 2). In the days of Jehoshaphat, Judah could keep a standing army of 1,160,000 men. Beside that, the returned remnant was poor indeed (2 Chron. 17:12-18). It was "a day of small things," as Zech. 4:10 expresses it.
What made the small number significant was not its size but its direction:
Still there was a definite revival, and the first mark of it was this: they got back to God's original centre. Compared with the whole number of scattered Jews they were only a few. Many worldly people may have nicknamed them "Zerubbabelites." They were not that. They were simply a few who cared for their God and sought His original centre.
Why count so carefully? Descent decided who could take part in the work:
after
So we see that the remnant are watchful to stand plain and clear as sons of the covenant. Physical descent in the line of promise mattered as much to them as being born of God matters to the Christian. Never had such jealous care been so necessary... But it was true of the people: none but Israelites can be allowed to build a temple to the God of Israel.
- Recorded. God kept this list because He treasures even the smallest fruit of His Spirit's work. He knows His people by name, and this chapter is one page of His records.
- Rooted. From verse 21 on, the count goes by town, not by ancestor. These men went back to re-people the place they came from.
- Restored. Anathoth was a priests' village in Benjamin. It was Jeremiah's home, and these 128 men filled it again after the exile.
- Reduced. Beside Judah's old army of over a million, the whole company was tiny. It was a day of small things, and 128 is one line of it.
- Reckoned. Numbers were not the point. They stood clear as sons of the covenant, and only Israelites could build the temple of the God of Israel.
The children of Azmaveth, forty-two.
Ezra's list names whole villages and counts the families who came home from exile, and here one small place accounts for forty-two people. Why would God keep such small numbers in Scripture at all?
The name in this verse is not a father but a location, tucked between the towns of two tribes.
A village lying on the borders of Judah and Benjamin. Ezra 2:24; Neh. 12:29. Called BETH-AZMAVETH in Neh. 7:28.
So the forty-two are a village count, and the same place appears as Beth-Azmaveth in Nehemiah. That same care marks the whole chapter.
This chapter shows the definite interest God had in every individual who returned from the captivity. That is why it records the number from each city, and the total number as well.
The list's survival shows how God viewed what His people had done.
The first thing to notice is this. The very fact that such a list exists shows how precious to God was the response His grace had produced in the hearts of His people, however feebly they had entered into His thoughts about His house. That is why He has kept this list. It is evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It also shows that He knows the names of His people and makes them known, to encourage everyone to walk in His ways, to stand with His interests, and to stay faithful in times of corruption and apostasy.
Others read the chapter as one page out of a much larger set of records God keeps.
This chapter contains the names of the returning remnant. It is a specimen page of the records God keeps. From it we may learn that He remembers His people. He knows them by name, and He does not forget their works... He has a book of remembrance (Mal. 3:16). The apostle reminded the Hebrew believers of this when he wrote: "For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do" (Heb. 6:10).
One writer puts the case for staying, in the words the exiles themselves might have used.
"We are settled in Babylon. We have been brought up here and, for some of us, our parents have been brought up here. We have got used to things. How can we leave everything behind, just to go to what is a strange place to us?"
Those who overcame that reasoning ended up in the register; the rest vanished from view.
God has made sure of this. The names of those who roused themselves to answer His call to return to the land stand on record in a very lasting way. The names of those who did not rouse themselves are almost entirely lost.
The totals in this chapter also settle a larger question about what the return was and was not.
The second chapter makes plain something we must grasp to understand the prophecies of the Old Testament. Only a remnant came back out of the captivity of Babylon, and a small remnant at that — some 43,000 or a little less, mainly from Judah and Benjamin. Out of the ten tribes there came only stragglers... This is proof that the return was not the fulfilment of the prophecies, but only a partial accomplishment.
Small numbers tempt people to think little of their own work. One writer shows where that state of mind leaves them.
They are now shown that, in this state of mind, they were not in fellowship with the mind and heart of God. The question was not how glorious their work looked, but what God thought about it... So let us learn, along with these returned captives, that the lowliest service, however plain it looks from outside, deserves all our devotion and zeal if the mind and heart of God are upon it.
- Place — Azmaveth was a village on the border of Judah and Benjamin. The forty-two are one small settlement's share in the return, not one man's family.
- Counted — God took a definite interest in every person who came back. That is why the list gives the figure for each town.
- Preserved — The list survives as evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work, feeble as the people's grasp of His house was.
- Remembered — The chapter is a specimen page of God's own records. He knows His people by name, and He does not forget their work and their love.
- Weighed — The worth of any service is not how big it looks, but what God thinks of it. So even the least visible work deserves our whole zeal.
The children of Kirjath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three.
A single line in a long register: three towns named together, and 743 people counted between them. Why does Scripture keep such a record? And why do these towns, with a past reaching back to Joshua, appear among those who came home from Babylon?
This chapter records those who came back from exile, each to his own town. One writer sees the very existence of such a list as proof of what their response meant to God.
The first thing to notice is that this list exists at all. That shows how precious to God was the response His grace had produced in the hearts of His people, however feebly they entered into His thoughts about His house. For this reason He kept the list on record. It is evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It also shows that He knows the names of His people and announces them. That encourages everyone to walk in His ways, to stand with His interests, and to stay faithful in times of corruption and apostasy.
The roll shifts its shape as it goes.
Verses 3 to 35 count the people of various cities. Verses 36 to 39 add priests to the number of those returning. Verse 43 brings in the Nethinim, whose total number was 392. Ezra 8:20 says David appointed them to serve the Levites; they were probably Gibeonites whom Joshua had received (Joshua 9:23).
So these 743 stand under their town names. Beeroth, the third name, has a history worth tracing.
One of the four cities of the Hivites which deceived Joshua into making a treaty of peace. It belonged to Benjamin (Joshua 9:17; Joshua 18:25). It is identified with Bireh, about 7 miles north of Jerusalem. People of the city were called Beerothites, and 'children' or 'men of Beeroth' on returning from exile (Ezra 2:25; Neh. 7:29).
Kiriath-arim (Kiriath-jearim), Chephirah and Beeroth are not a random cluster. They were Gibeon's allies, the people who tricked Israel into a peace treaty.
These allied peoples included the Hivites, who had four cities: Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim. The heads of these cities planned together. Others of their nation reached for the sword, but these men used a trick to get what they wanted.
That trick cost them their freedom. It also tied them for good to the place of God's worship.
It is true that God allowed them to bear a certain mark of degradation as a result. Slavery was the only course left open righteously… After the treaty, to put them to death would have been fresh sin, a crime. The name of the Lord had been solemnly given, and no one can ever trifle with that. On the other hand, the Gibeonites were brought down to the lowest services for the sanctuary of the Lord. So it was made plain that nothing preserved them but His name. They were attached to the sanctuary, but with the brand of slavery on them.
Centuries later, men from those towns are back to build the temple. The Nethinim counted further down this same roll were probably Gibeonites too.
One writer draws out what all this counting was for.
So we see that the remnant are careful to stand simple and clear as sons of the covenant. Physical descent in the line of promise mattered as much to them as being born of God matters to the Christian. Never before had such careful watchfulness been needed… none but Israelites can be allowed to build a temple to the God of Israel.
The same writer presses why a wrecked situation calls for more care, not less.
The Babylonian captivity had completed the confusion which sin had caused long before. But those who feared the Lord took more care than was needed in the days when everything was known and in order. Restoration is always difficult. True grace submits to Scripture. The flesh always craves what we do not have, despises what we do have, and attempts imitations, substitutes and inventions of its own.
One writer sets another register beside the rolls of earthly towns.
Our citizenship is in heaven. No one will have the privilege of entering the gates of the holy city, the new Jerusalem, except those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. That is the heavenly register of saints, called with a holy calling. It never goes through the periodic cancellations that the often faulty citizen-rolls of earthly cities go through.
- Counted because prized. God kept this list as evidence that He "looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work."
- Counted by home. From verse 3 the roll groups people by their cities. Beeroth lay in Benjamin, about seven miles north of Jerusalem.
- Counted though once enemies. These three were Hivite cities that tricked Joshua. Nothing preserved them but the Lord's name, and it tied them to His sanctuary.
- Counted, therefore checked. Descent in the line of promise mattered: "none but Israelites can be allowed to build a temple to the God of Israel." Ruin called for more care over Scripture, not less.
- Counted in heaven. Earthly rolls could be cancelled; the Lamb's book of life cannot.
The children of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one.
This verse is one line in a long roll call of the people who came back from exile in Babylon. It raises two questions: why does God keep such a list at all, and why does the list count these families by their hometowns?
The list itself is the first thing to notice. One writer reads it as evidence of what God treasures:
That this list exists at all shows how precious to God was the response which His grace had produced in the hearts of His people. They may have entered only weakly into His thoughts about His house. Even so, He has kept this list. It is evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. He knows the names of His people, and He proclaims them. All this encourages everyone to walk in His ways, to stand with His interests, and to stay faithful in times of corruption and apostasy.
The chapter counts in two ways, and this verse belongs to the second. The switch matches what these families went back to do:
Verses 3 to 20 of chapter 2 list them by the name of their fathers. Verses 21 to 34 list them by the name of their cities. Those listed by their cities went to live in and re-people the cities they came from, once they had returned to Palestine. Nehemiah 7:5 tells us that the whole people was entered in a register by their genealogies.
Both towns sat in Benjamin. Ramah stood on the border between the two kingdoms, and kings fought over it:
City of Benjamin. It was on the frontier between Judah and Israel. Baasha, king of Israel, tried to build up the place as a fort against Asa, king of Judah. But Asa asked the king of Syria for help, and Syria attacked Israel, so the plan came to nothing... Called RAMA in Matthew 2:18.
Geba appears in this verse under a different spelling, and it had a particular standing among Benjamin's towns:
Levitical city in Benjamin... It seems that while Saul was king the Philistines kept a garrison there, and Jonathan struck it down. 1 Samuel 13:3. Long afterwards Asa built or rebuilt the city. It is called GABA in Joshua 18:24, Ezra 2:26 and Nehemiah 7:30, and GIBEAH in 1 Samuel 13:2-16 and 14:2-16.
The 621 of this verse is a small number, and so is the whole company. Set against the nation's past strength, the return looks tiny:
To a casual observer it must have seemed quite a small matter — about 42,000 Jews brought back to the land of their fathers under the leadership of Zerubbabel (Ezra 2). Remember that in the days of Jehoshaphat Judah could keep a standing army of 1,160,000 men. Next to that, the returned remnant was poor indeed (2 Chronicles 17:12-18). It was "a day of small things," as Zechariah 4:10 puts it.
Yet filling each town again mattered. Its small size is no reason for shame, and no reason for pride:
The temple would have meant little if no one lived in the cities of Judah. The numbers in the cities would be small compared with their size before the captivity. Even so, each city would be a testimony to the restoring grace of God. It is the same today. Each little assembly that God restores is a testimony to His grace and faithfulness. Yet such testimonies are far from being an occasion for our own pride.
The list names those who went. It leaves out those who stayed behind, and that silence says something:
Apart from its last three verses, chapter two gives the numbers of those who answered the proclamation, named under the heads of their families. The list names the heads and counts the families. God took note of them and put their names into His record. Those whose hearts did not stir them up to go He passes over in silence. Let us take note of this.
- Kept. God kept this list because the response His grace produced in His people was precious to Him. He notices the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work, and He makes the names known.
- Placed. From verse 21 on, the list counts the families by their towns, not by their fathers. They were going back to live in the cities they came from.
- Located. Ramah and Geba both stood in Benjamin. Ramah was a border town, called Rama in Matthew 2:18. Geba was a Levitical city, and Asa rebuilt it.
- Few. 621 here, and some 42,000 in all. Jehoshaphat once had an army of over a million. This was a day of small things.
- Named. Every town filled again was a witness to God's restoring grace. Those whose hearts never stirred them to go have no name in the list.
The men of Michmas, a hundred and twenty-two.
Ezra 2 counts the people who came home from Babylon, town by town, and this verse is one line of that count. Why would God keep a headcount from one small village in Benjamin?
One writer sees in the survival of this chapter a sign of how much the people's response meant to God:
Notice this first. The very existence of this record shows how precious to God was the response of His people. His grace had produced that response in their hearts, however weakly they may have entered into His thoughts about His house. For this reason He has kept this list safe. It is evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It also shows that He knows the very names of His people and announces them. This encourages everyone to walk in His ways, to take His interests as their own, and to stay faithful in times of corruption.
Michmas, also spelled Michmash, had a history before this list. It had already appeared in Israel's story as a battlefield:
City and mountain pass in the tribe of Benjamin. It was where Jonathan struck down the Philistine garrison. The victory might have been greater, but Saul distressed the people by forbidding them to eat until evening. Men of this town returned from the exile.
The chapter names heads of families and tallies the people under them. What it leaves out is as telling as what it records:
Chapter two, apart from the last three verses, gives details of the number of those who answered the proclamation. It names them under the heads of their families. The heads are named and the families counted. God took note of them and put their names into His record, while He passes over in silence those whose hearts did not stir them up to go. Let us take note of this.
This verse counts the men of Michmas by their town, not by their family head. One writer comments on these towns of Judah and Benjamin, where the returning families settled again:
There again the order is not perfect; Judah even goes a little beyond their limits at Beer-sheba. Yet alongside these defects there was a real desire in each one to occupy the place God assigned to him.
This count sits inside a chapter concerned with proof of descent. One writer explains what was at stake:
So we see that the remnant are watchful to stand simple and clear as sons of the covenant. Descent by birth in the line of promise mattered as much to them as being born of God matters to the Christian. Never had such careful watchfulness been so necessary. It was needed most among the priests. But it was true of the people as well: no one but Israelites could be allowed to build a temple to the God of Israel.
The same register appears again in Nehemiah, and some totals differ between the two accounts. One writer suggests a simple reason:
Their individual names are not recorded, but the Lord knows them all, and cared for each one and sustained them on the journey home. Even so He knows all His sheep and keeps every member of His body, leading them home to glory. If some of the numbers do not agree with Nehemiah's record, there is no doubt a good reason for it. For instance, the descendants of Arah are 775 here, and in Nehemiah only 652 are recorded. Probably 775 had enrolled their names but only 652 went.
- Recorded — God wanted His people's response written down, so the list survives. He notices the smallest fruit of His Spirit's work.
- Named — God named and numbered those who went, and left those who stayed behind in silence.
- Placed — Michmas was a real town in Benjamin with a real history, and its 122 men went back to the place God had assigned them.
- Proven — The count sits in a chapter about proving descent. The returning people took care to stand clear as sons of the covenant.
- Known — The 122 men are never named one by one. Yet the Lord knew each of them, cared for each, and brought them home.
The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three.
One line in a long roll call: 223 men, counted by their home town instead of by their ancestor. Both towns carry a heavy past — one had been Israel's chief centre of idol worship, the other a burnt heap — so why does God keep the count at all?
Chapter 2 is a register of those who came back from Babylon. One writer finds it striking that such a list exists at all:
The very fact that this list exists shows how precious to God was the response His grace had produced in the hearts of His people. They may have grasped His thoughts about His house only weakly. Still, for this reason He has kept this list. It is evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It shows that He knows the names of His people and makes them known, to encourage everyone to walk in His ways, to stand with His interests, and to stay faithful in times of corruption and turning away from God.
The list has a silence in it too:
God took note of them and put their names into His record, while He passes over in silence those whose hearts did not stir them up to go. Let us take note of this.
Verse 28 sits in a distinct block of the chapter, where the labels change:
There were 24,144 people who returned from the captivity under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the high priest, helped by nine chief men. Verses 3 to 20 of chapter 2 list them by their fathers' names. Verses 21 to 34 list them by the names of their cities. Those listed by their cities went to live in and re-people their home cities, once they had returned to Palestine.
So these 223 form a resettlement group, listed by the ground they were going back to.
The name itself is a promise, and its history is a warning:
Bethel means "House of God." The place was sacred, because there God showed Himself to Jacob and in grace pledged Himself to His servant (Gen. 28:10-22). Now one of Jeroboam's calf idols stood there (1 Kings 12:28-29). So Jehovah spoke of the place with contempt as Bethaven — "house of folly" (Hosea 4:15).
Yet men from that town stand on this list of returning exiles.
Ai's name matches its fate. One writer says the name "means 'ruins'", and that "Abraham built his altar between Bethel (House of God) and Ai" (Arno Clemens Gaebelein). A dictionary fills in what happened to the city later:
Ai was a royal city of Canaan. Joshua conquered it by a clever plan, after the sin of Achan had caused an earlier defeat. He burned it and made it a "heap." Joshua 7:2-5; Joshua 8:1-29; Joshua 10:1-2. It stood near Bethel, in the land given to Benjamin, and it was apparently rebuilt, since Ezra 2:28 and Nehemiah 7:32 mention it.
Commentators place Bethel differently. The dictionary puts it in Benjamin's land. Another writer puts it in Ephraim, in the north, and draws a conclusion from that:
Are we to suppose that in the return of God's people to the land in Ezra's and Nehemiah's time only those belonging to the southern kingdom returned? There is evidence that in some cases it was not so. Ezra 2:28, for instance, tells us of 223 men of Bethel and Ai returning. Bethel was in Ephraim, and it was the centre of the idol worship set up by Jeroboam.
Next to the whole scattered nation, this return was small:
Still there was a definite revival, and the first mark of it was this: they got back to God's original centre. Compared with the whole number of scattered Jews they were only a few. Many worldly people may have nicknamed them "Zerubbabelites." Yet they were not that. They were just a few who cared for their God and sought His original centre.
- Named. God kept this register because He values the response His grace produces. He takes joy in the smallest fruit of His work.
- Unnamed. The silence speaks too. God passes over those whose hearts did not move them to go.
- Ruined. Bethel had sunk from "house of God" to "house of folly," and Joshua had burned Ai into a heap — yet both towns supply men for this list.
- Rebuilt. Counted by city, not by ancestor, these 223 went back to re-people their own ground — the town Joshua burned was standing again.
- Recentred. The mark of a real revival here is not size but direction — a few who cared for their God and got back to His original centre.
The children of Nebo, fifty-two.
Fifty-two people from one small town sit inside a long list of those who came back from Babylon to Judah. Why does God keep a record this detailed? And why are these people counted under a town name instead of a father's name?
Commentators say the first thing to notice about this list is that it exists at all.
This list exists, and that alone shows how precious to God was the response His grace had produced in the hearts of His people. They may have entered only weakly into His thoughts about His house. For this reason He has kept this list safe. It is evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It shows too that He knows the very names of His people and announces them. That is an encouragement to everyone to walk in His ways, to stand with His interests, and to stay faithful in times of corruption.
The chapter counts a whole company, and part way through it the pattern of the list changes. Nebo belongs to the second half.
24,144 people returned from the captivity. Zerubbabel and Jeshua (or Joshua) the high priest led them, helped by nine chief men. Verses 3 to 20 of chapter 2 list them by the name of their fathers. Verses 21 to 34 list them by the name of their cities. Those listed by their cities went back to live in their home towns and fill them again, once they had returned to Palestine.
So "the sons of Nebo" does not mean a man's descendants. A reference work on Bible names sums up what the place was:
A city whose inhabitants or 'children' returned from exile.
A list like this has two sides. It names those who went. Its silence covers those who did not.
Apart from the last three verses, chapter two gives the number of those who answered the proclamation. It names them under the heads of their families. The heads are named and the families counted. God took note of them and put their names into His record. But He passed over in silence those whose hearts did not stir them up to go. Let us take note of this.
Figures like fifty-two, forty-two, and fifty-six make the whole return look tiny — and the writers admit the objection openly, putting it in the mouth of a critic:
"How can a minority be right? When Israel left Egypt, they were 600,000 men plus families. When they entered the land of Canaan, they were about the same number. Since then, the people must have grown. And now there were just 43,000 who think Jerusalem is the place to be."
The answer given is short:
But faith does not look to the numbers for guidance, but at God's word.
Commentators note how carefully the returning people guarded their line of descent.
after-note: DELETE-NOT-USED
So we see that the remnant are careful to stand clear and unmistakable as sons of the covenant. Descent in the line of promise mattered as much to them as being born of God does to the Christian. Such careful watching had never been so necessary. It was needed most where it mattered most: in the priests, as we shall see. But it was true of the people too: none but Israelites could be allowed to build a temple to the God of Israel.
Others draw the same principle out as a demand for reality rather than profession. One writer applies it to a day when the church is in confusion: "we are entitled to demand that they shall prove their genealogy… because now people generally take the place of Christians without reality."
- Grace first. The return came from God's grace working in His people. He kept this list because He values the smallest fruit of His own work.
- Register. This verse is one line of that list: fifty-two people from the town of Nebo. From verse 21 on, the list groups families by home town, because they went back to fill those towns again.
- Recorded. God wrote down the names of those who answered the call. Those who stayed in Babylon go unnamed.
- Few. Small numbers can make the return look like a failing minority. Faith takes its direction from God's word, not from a head count.
- Proven. What descent was to them, being born of God is to the Christian. It has to be real, not just claimed.
The children of Magbish, a hundred and fifty-six.
One line in a long list: a family or town called Magbish sends 156 people home from exile to Judah. Why would God keep a written record of so small a group, and what does it mean that they are counted by place rather than by ancestor?
The very survival of this list says something about God before it says anything about the people in it:
The first thing to notice is this. The very existence of this record shows how precious to God was the response His grace had produced in the hearts of His people. They may have entered only feebly into His thoughts about His house. For this reason He has kept this list. It is evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It also shows that the very names of His people are known and proclaimed, to encourage everyone to walk in His ways, to stand with His interests, and to stay faithful in times of corruption and falling away.
Magbish sits in a stretch of the list where the pattern changes. Earlier entries name an ancestor; these name a place. The change marks where these people were going:
24,144 people (Ezra 2:1-35) returned from the captivity. Zerubbabel and Jeshua (or Joshua) the high priest led them, helped by nine chief men. From verse 3 to verse 20 of this chapter, the list names them by their fathers. From verse 21 to verse 34 it names them by their cities. Those listed by their cities went to live in and re-people the cities they came from, once they had returned to Palestine. The whole people was registered by their genealogies, as Nehemiah 7:5 tells us.
The same roll appears again in Nehemiah 7, and the figures there do not always agree with Ezra's. One writer offers a plain explanation:
Their individual names are not recorded, but the Lord knows them all. He cared for each one and sustained them on the journey homeward. If some of the numbers do not agree with Nehemiah's record, there is no doubt a good reason for it. For instance, the descendants of Arah are here 775, and in Nehemiah we find only 652 recorded. Probably 775 had enrolled their names, but only 652 went.
Magbish's 156 is a small number, and the whole company was small too:
The whole assembly totalled 42,360, plus servants and singers adding 7,537 to the number. This was only a small percentage of Judah and Benjamin, but the Lord took account of every one.
The towns they returned to were small as well:
The numbers in the cities would be small compared with their size before the captivity. Yet each city would be a testimony to the restoring grace of God. Today also, each little assembly that God restores is a testimony to His grace and faithfulness. But such testimonies give us no reason for pride. We are thankful for God's goodness, and our own weakness only humbles us.
For these families, the register was not mere bookkeeping:
So we see that the remnant are watchful to stand simple and clear as sons of the covenant. Genealogy according to the flesh in the line of promise was as important to them as being born of God is to the Christian. Never had such careful watchfulness been so necessary. This mattered most of all in the priests, but it was true of the people too: only Israelites could be allowed to build a temple to the God of Israel.
Another writer applies this to Christians today:
The answer was found: only those who could "show their father's house," or could find "their register," had the scriptural qualification for a place at the table of the Lord. In other words, we must have peace with God. We must know that we are children of God through having the Spirit of adoption, so that we can show our Father's house and trace our genealogy. Without that, we do not have the divine title required. Profession is not enough.
- Recorded — The list survives because God delights in the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. He makes the names of His people known, to encourage others to stay faithful.
- Reckoned — The returning company was only a small part of Judah and Benjamin. Yet the Lord took account of every one.
- Rooted — From verse 21 onward the list names people by their city, not their father. They were going back to re-people the towns they came from.
- Reviewed — Ezra's figures sometimes differ from Nehemiah's. One suggested reason: more people enrolled their names than went.
- Recognised — A place in the register had to be proved, not just claimed. Commentators apply this to the Christian: profession alone is not enough.
The children of the other Elam, a thousand two hundred and fifty-four.
This verse is a single line in a long register. It names a second family called Elam — one Elam has already appeared earlier in the chapter — and counts 1,254 people beside the name. Why does God fill a chapter of Scripture with names and numbers? And why does He write this family into it?
One writer starts with the fact that this list has survived at all:
The first thing to notice is that this record exists at all. That shows how precious to God was the response His grace had produced in the hearts of His people. They may have entered only weakly into His thoughts about His house. For this reason He has kept this list. It is evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It is evidence too that He knows and announces the very names of His people, to encourage everyone to walk in His ways, to be identified with His interests, and to stay faithful in times of corruption and apostasy.
Verse 31 sits in the second half of the register. One writer sets out how the chapter is arranged:
24,144 people returned from the captivity (Ezra 2:1-35). Zerubbabel and Jeshua (or Joshua), the high priest, led them, helped by nine chief men. Verses 3 to 20 of chapter 2 list them by the name of their fathers. Verses 21 to 34 list them by the name of their cities. The families listed by their cities went back to live in their home cities and fill them with people again, once they had returned to Palestine. Nehemiah 7:5 tells us that the whole people was registered according to their genealogies.
The chapter counts those who came. Another writer notices who is missing from it:
Chapter two, apart from the last three verses, gives the number of those who answered the proclamation. It names them under the heads of their families. The heads are named and the families counted. God took note of them and put their names into His record, while those whose hearts did not stir them up to go are passed over in silence. Let us take note of this.
To be listed here, a family had to show it belonged to Israel. That was not bureaucracy; it decided who could build God's house at all:
So we see that the remnant are watchful to stand plain and clear as sons of the covenant. Being able to trace their descent in the line of promise mattered as much to them as being born of God matters to a Christian. Such careful attention had never been so necessary, above all in the priests, as we shall see. But it was true of the people too: none but Israelites can be allowed to build a temple to the God of Israel.
Names like this one were checked with a strictness their ancestors had never used. The captivity itself had taught them why:
In earlier days one priest followed another with no examination beforehand. No one checked genealogy, and children came into their father's place and enjoyed the privileges God had granted them. But Israel now, through the great grace of God, had to recover their position. This was not the beginning of their history, nor the power suited to a beginning. It was a return, and from now on the disorder that sin had brought in could not be endured. So even among those who had come back to Judea, anyone who could not produce his genealogy was set aside. It was weakness, but it was faithfulness.
One writer applies this to his own readers:
But what I call your attention to is this principle. It was a day of weakness and humiliation. Even so, it was not to be a day of negligence but of the greatest care. God's people were to be as watchful for His name as when things were in the full power and beauty of divine order. I hold this to be very precious for ourselves now.
- Recorded. God kept the list because He treasured what His grace had produced in His people, even though they grasped His purpose only in part.
- Counted. God named and numbered every family who came, and passed over in silence those whose hearts did not stir them to go.
- Placed. The register runs first by fathers' names, then by cities, so returning families could fill their home towns again.
- Proved. Each family had to prove its descent, and only Israelites could build the temple of the God of Israel.
- Applied. A day of weakness calls for the same watchfulness as the days of full order, not for slack standards.
The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty.
One line in a long roll of families: the sons of Harim, counted at 320, among those who left Babylon for Jerusalem. A chapter of names and numbers raises a simple question. Why would God keep one household's name and an exact figure on record for all to read?
One writer starts from the mere fact that such a list survives at all:
The first thing to notice is this. The fact that such a record exists shows how precious to God the response of His people was. His grace had produced that response in their hearts, however feebly they had entered into His thoughts about His house. For this reason He has kept this list. It is evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It also shows that He knows the very names of His people and proclaims them, to encourage everyone to walk in His ways, to stand with His interests, and to stay faithful in times of corruption and apostasy.
The same list also speaks by what it leaves out:
The heads are named and the families counted. God took note of them and put their names into His record. He passed over in silence those whose hearts did not stir them up to go. Let us take note of this.
A count of 320 looks like a dry detail. Yet one writer finds God's pleasure in such numbering:
Is it not a precious truth that God takes pleasure in letting His people know that He prizes every one of them? A sad change had come through Israel's sin and Judah's sin, and not least through the sin of David's house. Sin gives occasion to His grace, yet it cannot be without man's humiliation. Faith takes account of both. But God always waits to bless and to give His own the proof and sense of His blessing — as we see even in the numbering of those who returned from Babylon.
Harim's people appear as a family line. Every group in the list had to be clear about where it came from:
So we see that the remnant are careful to stand plain and clear as sons of the covenant. Descent according to the flesh in the line of promise mattered as much to them as being born of God does to the Christian. No time had ever called for such careful watchfulness, and it was needed most among the priests. It was true of the people too: only Israelites could have a part in building a temple to the God of Israel.
Set beside Israel's earlier strength, figures in the hundreds look tiny:
To a casual observer, the return of about 42,000 Jews to the land of their fathers under Zerubbabel must have seemed a small matter. In the days of Jehoshaphat, Judah could keep a standing army of 1,160,000 men. Beside that, the returned remnant was poor indeed. It was "the day of small things," as Zechariah 4:10 puts it.
So what should guide a small company? One writer answers plainly:
But faith does not look to the numbers for guidance, but at God's word.
Nehemiah repeats this register, and some of its totals do not match Ezra's. Commentators differ on why. One points to a gap between those who enrolled and those who went:
The list does not give their individual names, but the Lord knows them all. He cared for each one and carried them through the journey home. In the same way He knows all His sheep and keeps every member of His body, leading them home to glory. If some of the numbers do not agree with Nehemiah's record, there is no doubt a good reason for it. For instance, the descendants of Arah are 775 here, while Nehemiah records only 652. Most likely 775 had enrolled their names, but only 652 went.
Another writer points to copying as one known source of such slips, without settling the matter there:
The overall total in both is the same, yet the details differ oddly, and how this happened may not be easy to decide. We know that numbers are very easy to corrupt, whether through a careless copyist or a bold one... To put such frequent and marked differences down to a copyist's mistake is a hard saying.
- Called. This verse sits in a list of people who left Babylon at God's call. The list itself proves their response mattered to Him.
- Counted. God numbers His people because they are His. The count of 320 says He prizes every one of them.
- Named. God names those who went for all time. He passes over those who stayed in silence.
- Proven. Harim's household stands in the roll as sons of the covenant. Each family had to show clear descent before sharing in the work.
- Small. The totals are tiny beside Israel's former strength. Faith takes its direction from God's word, not from the size of the company.
The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, seven hundred and twenty-five.
Verse 33 is a single line in the register of those who came back from exile: 725 people from the towns of Lod, Hadid, and Ono. Why does Scripture keep a roll of small towns and their numbers?
The list is not built in one way throughout. Part of it counts people by the city they came from, and verse 33 sits in that part.
Verses 3 to 35 count the people of the various cities. Then verses 36 to 39 show that priests were included among those returning. Verse 40 speaks of Levites, and verses 41-42 of singers.
Why keep such a record at all? One writer answers from the fact that the list exists.
This chapter gives us a register of the people of the province who came up out of the captivity, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. There are several interesting details to notice in the record. The first is that the list's very existence shows how precious to God was the response His grace had produced in the hearts of His people, however feebly they took in His thoughts about His house. For this reason He has kept this list on record. It is evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It shows too that the very names of His people are known and announced, to encourage everyone to walk in His ways, to stand with His interests, and to stay faithful in times of corruption and falling away.
The record has a silence in it as well.
Apart from its last three verses, chapter two gives the numbers of those who answered the proclamation, listed under the heads of their families. It names the heads and counts the families. God took note of them and put their names into His record. But those whose hearts did not stir them up to go are passed over in silence. Let us take note of this.
A count this small marks a sad change in Israel's story. That is exactly where the comfort lies.
Still, is it not a precious truth that God takes pleasure in letting His people know that every one of them is prized by Him? A sad change had come through Israel's sin and through Judah's sin, and not least through the sin of David's house. Sin gives occasion to His grace, yet it cannot come without man's humiliation. Faith takes account of both. But God is always waiting to bless His own, and to give them the proof and the sense of His blessing. We see it even in the numbering of those who returned from Babylon.
These towns did not vanish from history. One of them turns up again in the New Testament under another name.
Some may be interested to know that the Lydda of the New Testament is none other than the Lod of 1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 2:33; Nehemiah 7:37 and Nehemiah 11:35. It is still called Ludd or Lidi today... Ono, Hadid, and Neballat were linked with Lod long ago, and each can still be clearly identified today under a changed name.
Ono comes up again later, when opponents press for a meeting away from Jerusalem.
It is as if they said: do not be so narrow and exclusive. Come down from your sacred enclosure to "one of the villages in the plain of Ono." "Let us meet together." Come down, and give us your approval in the plain of Ono. Do you ask what this plain of Ono was? Turn to Nehemiah 11:35: "Lod, and Ono, the valley of craftsmen." Leave the one centre of worship inside the walls of Jerusalem, and come down to any one of the villages of "the craftsmen." They knew well that if the true worship of God was set up in that holy place, they would feel, as the Ephesians did later, that their craft was in danger.
- Named. This part of the record counts people by their town, not only by their ancestor.
- Prized. God kept the record because He values the smallest fruit of His Spirit's work, even when His people hardly understand His purpose.
- Counted. A number this small is humbling, yet the record proves God delights to let each of His own know they are prized by Him.
- Omitted. Those whose hearts did not stir them up to go are passed over in silence; the record holds the names of those who answered God's call.
- Located. The record keeps real towns: Lod is the New Testament's Lydda, and Ono is the plain where opponents later wanted a meeting away from Jerusalem.
The children of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five.
Ezra 2:34 is one line in a long register of those who came home from exile in Babylon. It counts 345 people from Jericho. Why would God preserve a headcount from a single small town, and why is that town Jericho of all places?
The chapter is a roll-call. Why did God keep such a list?
The first thing to notice is that this record exists at all. Its existence shows how precious to God was the response His grace had produced in the hearts of His people. It was precious however feebly they may have entered into His thoughts about His house. For this reason He has preserved this list. It is evidence that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It also shows that the very names of His people are known and announced. That is an encouragement to all: to walk in His ways, to be identified with His interests, and to stay faithful in times of corruption and falling away.
The counting cuts both ways.
Chapter two, apart from the last three verses, gives the numbers of those who answered the proclamation. They are named under the heads of their families. The heads are named and the families counted. God took note of them and put their names into His record, while the list passes over in silence those whose hearts did not stir them up to go. Let us take note of this.
Verse 34 sits in a distinct block of the list. The register changes its basis part way through.
From verse 3 to verse 20 of chapter 2 they are listed according to the name of their fathers, and from verse 21 to verse 34 according to the name of their cities. Once they had returned to Palestine, those listed by their cities went to live in their home towns and fill them again. The register covered the whole people according to their genealogies, as Nehemiah 7:5 tells us.
So "the sons of Jericho" are not one man's descendants. They are a town's people, going back to fill their home town again.
Jericho is not a neutral name on this list. Its history runs from Moab's occupation to a healed spring.
Jericho was allotted to Benjamin (Joshua 18:21), but later Eglon the king of Moab took it over. It is called "the city of palm trees" (Deuteronomy 34:3; Judges 1:16; Judges 3:13; 2 Chronicles 28:15). Afterwards "sons of the prophets" lived there. They said the situation of the city was pleasant, but the water was bad. It was Elisha's first miracle: he threw in salt and the water was healed. It was the ministry of heavenly blessing in the place of the curse (2 Kings 2:18-22). Some who returned from exile are described as "children of Jericho" (Ezra 2:34; Nehemiah 7:36).
Three hundred and forty-five is a small figure, and so is the total the chapter reaches.
The whole assembly totalled 42,360, with servants and singers adding another 7,537 to the number. This was only a small percentage of Judah and Benjamin, but the Lord took account of every one. Their horses numbered 736 — nothing compared to Solomon's 40,000 stalls of horses (1 Kings 4:26). But at least Judah did have "a little strength" (compare Revelation 3:8).
Why such exactness about names and numbers?
So we see that the remnant are careful to stand clear and unmistakable as sons of the covenant. Descent in the line of promise mattered as much to them as being born of God does to the Christian. Never before had such jealous care been necessary, and above all among the priests, as we shall see. But it was true of the people too: none but Israelites can be allowed to build a temple to the God of Israel. The captivity in Babylon had completed the confusion that sin had caused long before. But those who feared the Lord were all the more careful, in a way that was not needed in the days when everything was known and in order. Restoration is always difficult.
- Called. A proclamation went out, and this verse records one town's answer to it — 345 people who moved.
- Counted. God preserved the names because He values the smallest fruit of His Spirit's work. Those who did not stir themselves are left out.
- Placed. From verse 21 on, people are listed by city rather than by father, because they were going back to re-people the towns they came from.
- Cleansed. Jericho was a place of curse. A prophet healed its water, and now its people are named among those coming home.
- Kept. The total was a small fraction of Judah and Benjamin. Yet the Lord took account of every one, and every one had to prove he belonged.
The children of Senaah, three thousand six hundred and thirty.
One line ends a long count: a single family group of 3,630 people, the largest number in the whole list of those who came back from exile. Why does Scripture bother to count them, and what became of the family whose name closes the list?
Why does a list of names and numbers survive at all? One commentator finds the answer in the fact that it survives:
The very fact that this record exists shows how precious to God was the response His grace had produced in the hearts of His people — however weakly they had entered into His thoughts about His house. That is why He has kept this list. It shows that He looks with joy on the smallest fruits of His Spirit's work. It shows that He knows His people's names and makes them known, to encourage everyone to walk in His ways, to stand with His interests, and to stay faithful in times of corruption and apostasy.
This way of counting has a quiet edge to it. A record that names some people also leaves others out:
Except for the last three verses, chapter two gives the numbers of those who answered the proclamation, listed under the heads of their families. It names the heads and counts the families. God took note of these people and put their names into His record. Those whose hearts did not stir them up to go He passes over in silence. Let us take note of this.
Another writer sets this page beside a second record God keeps:
This chapter contains the names of the returning remnant. It is a sample page from the records God keeps. From it we learn that He remembers His people. He knows them by name, and He does not forget their works. In the book of Nehemiah this list is repeated (chapter 7), with an extra record of those who helped build the wall. He has a book of remembrance (Mal. 3:16); and the apostle reminded the Hebrew believers of this fact when he wrote: "For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do" (Heb. 6:10).
Verse 35 is a boundary marker. It closes the count of ordinary people before the chapter turns to those with temple duties:
Verses 3 to 35 count the people of various cities. Then verses 36 to 39 include the priests among those returning. Verse 40 speaks of the Levites, and verses 41-42 of the singers.
One reference work links this family to builders met again when Jerusalem's wall was rebuilt:
One whose sons built the fish gate at Jerusalem (Neh. 3:3). Probably the same as Senaah in Neh. 7:38 and Ezra 2:35, with the article added in Neh. 3:3.
If that link holds, this family later took on one of the most exposed parts of the wall — and finished the job:
After them, the sons of Senaah stand out (Neh. 3:3). Senaah may be a city, or it may be a district in the region of Jericho. They built the fish gate... This gate stood in the northern part of Jerusalem. Like "the gate of the old wall", it was especially open to enemy attack. The Assyrian armies came from the north to surround the city and besiege it. The sons of Senaah saw how important this gate was. They did not stop working until its locks and bars were in place.
Counting families by descent was not bookkeeping for its own sake. It settled who had a right to build:
So we see that the remnant are watchful to stand plain and clear as sons of the covenant. Descent by birth in the line of promise mattered as much to them as being born of God matters to the Christian. Such jealous care had never been so necessary... only Israelites can be allowed to build a temple to the God of Israel.
One writer draws the principle out for a day of weakness:
But what I want you to notice is the principle. It was a day of weakness and humiliation, yet it was not to be a day of carelessness. It was to be a day of the greatest care. God's people were to be as watchful for His name then as when everything stood in the full power and beauty of divine order.
- Counted. The list exists because God kept it. He looks with joy on even the smallest fruit of His work in His people's hearts.
- Named. Every household is listed under its family head, because only true Israelites could build God's temple. A day of weakness was still a day for the greatest care.
- Omitted. Those whose hearts did not stir them up to go are passed over in silence.
- Remembered. This page is a sample of the records God keeps. He knows His people by name and does not forget the love they have shown in serving.
- Used. The family that closes the roll probably built the Fish Gate later, the part of the wall most open to attack. They kept working until its locks and bars were in place.