Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men.
One short line in a long register: a family name, one leader, and a count of 218 men. It belongs to the roll of those who left Babylon with Ezra. Why would God keep such a list at all?
A roll of volunteers
No one forced these men to go. The names in verses 1–14 belong to people who chose to leave a settled life and travel back to Jerusalem. The count lists only the men.
Leslie M. GrantThis list records those who came of their own free will to travel with Ezra to Jerusalem. The men numbered almost 1500. Women also must have been present, but are not mentioned. This does not mean God thinks less of the faith of women. He often praises them for their devotion. But the point here is a public record, and women did not hold a public place, so there was no reason to name them. Children too are not mentioned. In fact, verse 1 puts the emphasis on "the heads of their fathers' houses." This shows God's deep interest in households.
Why the names were kept
Obadiah's name survives because God wanted it to survive. And the willingness that put him on the list was itself something God had worked in him first.
Edward DennettThis genealogy reaches to the end of verse 14, and it shows how precious to God were the very names of those who responded to His call at such a moment. The response itself is the fruit of His grace. Yet by that same grace He is pleased to credit to His people what He Himself had produced in their hearts. It was a fine company of over fifteen hundred people, gathered to return to the land of their fathers — the land of all their traditions and the land of all their hopes.
Families coming out in stages
Ezra's list catches families at different stages of coming out. Some names here are new. Others belong to families that had already sent part of their number home.
The Bible TreasuryAt first no Levites offered themselves to Ezra; but this drew out his zeal, and not without fruit. Of the people, some fresh families now returned; of other families a fresh part.
Reckoned by family, not by town
This list is arranged differently from the one in Ezra 2. Here each man is placed by family, and each could show his exact line.
H. L. RossierIn this new exodus, Ezra is accompanied by part of the people who had remained in the province of Babylon. These people, like their leader, have an exact record of their family line. Scripture mentions all of them according to their families and not, as with part of those in Ezra 2, according to their cities. In the first great movement of restoration there had been fairly little doubt about the right of people to belong to the people of God, and that doubt was mostly about the priesthood. But here it seems necessary to be even stricter than at the beginning.
What the journey cost them
Leaving cost these families something. They had grown up in Babylon, and staying would have been the easy choice.
Michael HardtThe men listed in the first 14 verses, together with their families, went with Ezra. It would have been so much easier for them to settle in Mesopotamia where they had grown up, but they return to the place of God's choice (Deut. 12) and God is with them.
The day this happened in
This list comes from a day of humiliation for the nation. Ezra led it without power of his own.
The Bible TreasuryAs it was the day of the people's humiliation, not power but pity and devotedness in obedience marked Ezra. God will have reality in those He honours; false pretensions He hates... Ezra in Babylon did not have the living prophets who had cheered the early workers in Jerusalem. But his heart was set on the written word. And the hand of the LORD did not fail in gracious providence, either for God and His worship, or on his journey to Jerusalem.
Summary
- Called. They went up in answer to God's call at a low moment. That answer was itself the fruit of His grace in their hearts.
- Costly. Settling in the country where they had grown up would have been far easier; they left it for the place of God's choice.
- Counted. These were volunteers, listed as heads of fathers' houses — nearly 1,500 men. Wives and children go unnamed, yet the record shows God's interest in whole households.
- Credited. God recorded the very names of those who answered, crediting to them what He Himself had produced in them.
- Continued. Some families here were returning for the first time; others sent a fresh group after an earlier one. Families come out in stages, and the later stage is checked more strictly.