Ezra 2:3–35; Nehemiah 7:8–38; 1 Esdras 5:9–23
The returnees family by family, in three versions
The lay families and towns of the returnee list, with each version's number. Names and figures often differ. Sums: Ezra 2 (all groups) 29,818; Nehemiah 7, 31,089; 1 Esdras 5 in the KJV Apocrypha, 33,922; each states a total of 42,360.
Read Ezra 2:3–35; Nehemiah 7:8–38; 1 Esdras 5:9–23 in every edition
Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording
The family tree
Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.
✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
- Same line, through lost copies
- Translation
- Related (shared ancestry)
Every witness, in order
Composed c. 5th–4th century BC (debated)
Original Ezra–Nehemiah
No original survives.
Same book in Hebrew tradition
Nehemiah 7:8–38 (parallel account, Masoretic Text)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex, quoted here in English.
Parosh 2,172; Shephatiah 372; Arah 652; Pahath-moab 2,818; Elam 1,254; Zattu 845…
See the full table.
Composed c. 2nd century BC (debated)
1 Esdras (Esdras A), library's Greek (Giguet's French)
How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.
Les enfants de Pharès, deux mille cent soixante-douze. Les enfants d'Arès, trois mille cinquante-sept…
1 Esdras 5:9–23. The library's Greek has very different names and numbers from the KJV Apocrypha. One Greek text via Giguet's French; not checked against Hanhart's Göttingen edition.
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
בְּנֵי פַרְעֹשׁ אַלְפַּיִם מֵאָה שִׁבְעִים וּשְׁנָיִם
the children of Parosh, two thousand one hundred seventy-two
Ezra 2:3.
1611
1 Esdras in the King James Apocrypha (1611)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
sons of Phoros, two thousand an hundred seventy and two; the sons of Saphat, four hundred seventy and two; the sons of Ares, seven hundred fifty and six…
1 Esdras 5:9–10.
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
The children of Parosh, two thousand an hundred seventy and two… Arah, seven hundred seventy and five…
What changed, and why
| Family or town | Ezra 2 | Nehemiah 7 | 1 Esdras 5 (KJV) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parosh | 2,172 | 2,172 | 2,172 (Phoros) |
| Shephatiah | 372 | 372 | 472 (Saphat) |
| Arah | 775 | 652 | 756 (Ares) |
| Pahath-moab | 2,812 | 2,818 | 2,812 |
| Elam | 1,254 | 1,254 | 1,254 |
| Zattu | 945 | 845 | 945 (Zathul) |
| Zaccai | 760 | 760 | 705 (Corbe?) |
| Bani / Binnui | 642 | 648 | 648 |
| Bebai | 623 | 628 | 623 |
| Azgad | 1,222 | 2,322 | 3,222 (Sadas) |
| Adonikam | 666 | 667 | 667 |
| Bigvai | 2,056 | 2,067 | 2,066 (Bagoi) |
| Adin | 454 | 655 | 454 |
| Ater of Hezekiah | 98 | 98 | 92 (Aterezias) |
| Bezai | 323 | 324 | 323 (Bassa) |
| Jorah / Hariph | 112 | 112 | — |
| Hashum | 223 | 328 | — |
| Gibbar / Gibeon | 95 | 95 | — |
| Bethlehem | 123 | 188 (with Netophah) | 123 (Bethlomon) |
| Netophah | 56 | (above) | 55 |
| Anathoth | 128 | 128 | 158 |
| Azmaveth | 42 | 42 | 42 (Bethsamos) |
| Kirjath-arim, Chephirah, Beeroth | 743 | 743 | 25 + 743 |
| Ramah and Gaba | 621 | 621 | 621 |
| Michmas | 122 | 122 | 122 (Macalon) |
| Bethel and Ai | 223 | 123 | 52 (Betolius)? |
| Nebo | 52 | 52 | — |
| Magbish | 156 | absent | 156 (Nephis) |
| The other Elam | 1,254 | 1,254 | — |
| Harim | 320 | 320 | — |
| Lod, Hadid, Ono | 725 | 721 | 725 |
| Jericho | 345 | 345 | 245 |
| Senaah | 3,630 | 3,930 | 3,330 (Annas) |
1 Esdras also has families absent from Ezra and Nehemiah (for example Azuran 432, Ananias 101, Arom 32, Meterus 3,005, Pira 700, Chadias and Ammidoi 422). Identifications in the third column are approximate and follow the order of the lists. All figures are from the library's KJV text, summed by the site; the Hebrew and the Göttingen Greek should be checked before certification. Michael Segal (Textus 32, 2023) offers a reconstruction of a common source; it is a hypothesis.
What the evidence shows
- Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 differ in at least 13 lay family figures.
- All three lists give the total 42,360. 1 Esdras 5:41 (KJV) as 40,000 plus 2,360; the library's Greek 1 Esdras reads 42,340.
- One version preserves the original figures throughout.
Sources
- M. Segal, "Reconstructing the List of Returnees: A Text-Critical Solution to Ezra 2 || Nehemiah 7 || 1 Esdras 5," Textus 32 (2023) ↗
- H. G. M. Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah (Word Biblical Commentary 16, 1985)
- E. Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. (2012)
Related lessons
- The Names of Those Who Came Home →Ezra 2 lists the returnees: eleven leaders headed by Zerubbabel and Jeshua; families and towns; priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants and the descendants of Solomon's servants; and people who could not prove their ancestry, including priests barred until a priest with Urim and Thummim should arise. The whole assembly is 42,360, with 7,337 servants and 200 singers. The same list appears in Nehemiah 7 and 1 Esdras 5, with many differences.
- Investigation: Who Returned? Lists, Land and Identity →Ezra speaks of "the children of the captivity" as if they were all Israel. But many Judeans stayed in Babylonia, many had never left Judah, and the land had other inhabitants. This investigation follows the waves of return, the numbers in the three versions of the list, who counted as a member, who did not, and the women and children of chapter 10 whose experience the book barely records.
- Returning Families and the Disputed Lists →With the wall complete, Nehemiah sets gatekeepers, singers and Levites, and puts Hanani and Hananiah over Jerusalem. The city is large but its people few. God moves him to gather the nobles and people to be registered, and he finds the register of the first returnees. Nehemiah 7:6–73 repeats the list of Ezra 2, with many differences in the numbers.