The sons of Adonikam, 666.
Ezra 2 lists the families who came home from exile in Babylon, with an exact count of each. Verse 13 names one house, Adonikam, and gives a total readers still stop at: 666.
Why a list of names and numbers exists at all
Why did God keep page after page of names and numbers? One writer answers from the fact that the record exists at all.
Edward DennettThe 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 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. It 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.
Six hundred and sixty-six people, not a statistic
Verse 13 counts Adonikam's descendants. It does not name them one by one. That does not make them anonymous to God.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinAltogether we find 24,144 descendants. Their individual names are not recorded. But the Lord knows them all. He cared for each member and sustained them on the journey home. In the same way He knows all His sheep and keeps every member of His body, leading them home to glory.
The number that stands out
Readers have long noticed the figure. One writer meets it again while tracing this same household through a later return.
The Bible TreasuryOf one family, the sons of Adonikam or Adonijah, "the last sons" seem to have gone up. From that family the ominous number, 666, had returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:13).
Ezra itself gives the number no meaning, and no writer here treats it as a stain on the family. A Bible dictionary traces what six stands for across Scripture.
Morrish Bible DictionarySIX. Incompleteness, imperfection (one short of the perfect number seven). Solomon had six steps to his great throne, 1 Kings 10:19, but it was not high enough to save him from idolatry. Each year he received six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 1 Kings 10:14, yet he had to confess that everything was vanity and a chasing after wind. The Jews at Cana had six water jars for purification, John 2:6, but those jars showed how far religious rituals fall short of meeting man's need. The number of the imperial beast will be six hundred and sixty-six, Rev. 13:18, imperfect in every respect.
The family that was finally complete
The story of Adonikam does not end in chapter 2. Years later, when Ezra led a second group home, the rest of this household went with him.
H. L. RossierIn the middle of this procession, the sons of Adonikam shine. Most of them had returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:13). Now the last children (v. 13) go up with Ezra. Their names are not forgotten. So the whole family is complete, and the book of God records this special blessing here. May we also see whole families, like Adonikam's, among those whom the Lord calls to testify of Him in these final days!
Why Nehemiah's figures differ
The same register appears again in Nehemiah 7, and many of the totals do not match. Commentators differ on the reason. One puts it down to the ordinary hazards of hand-copied documents.
The Bible TreasuryThe totals in both lists are the same, yet the details differ oddly. How that happened may not be easy to decide. We know that copyists corrupt numbers very easily, through carelessness or through boldness.
Another writer sets that explanation aside. He points to the register itself changing over time.
H. L. RossierSome guess that copyists made mistakes. That guess is as easy to make as it is unlikely, so leave it aside. Notice first that Nehemiah's list of the leaders of the people contains a name, Nahamani (v. 7), which Ezra 2 does not mention. Second, the genealogical registers drawn up by Zerubbabel received updates over a longer or shorter period (see Neh. 12:23).
Enrolled, but not all went
A third writer looks at the gap between signing up and setting out.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIf 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 only 652 in Nehemiah. Probably 775 enrolled their names, but only 652 went.
Summary
- Recorded. God kept this list because He treasured what His grace produced in His people, down to the smallest fruit of His Spirit's work.
- Counted. Adonikam's 666 are a number on the page. But the Lord knew every one of them and sustained them on the journey home.
- Ominous. Six speaks of incompleteness, one short of seven. The same figure marks the beast of Revelation 13, though Ezra draws no such link.
- Completed. The rest of Adonikam's house came up later with Ezra. Their names were kept, so the whole family stands in God's book.
- Disputed. Commentators explain the differing totals in Nehemiah 7 as copying errors, as later updates to the register, or as names enrolled by people who never travelled.