So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.
literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Levites
וְ֠הַלְוִיִּםVe.hal.vi.yim
H3881
a Levite or descendant of Levi · conjunction + definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
people
הָעָ֞םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
singers
וְהַמְשֹׁרְרִ֧יםve.ham.sho.re.Rim
H7891
to sing · conjunction + definite article + verb, piel active participle, masculine plural absolute
porters
וְהַשּׁוֹעֲרִ֛יםve.ha.sho.'a.Rim
H7778
a janitor · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Nethinims
וְהַנְּתִינִ֖יםve.ha.ne.ti.Nim
H5411
the Nethinim · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
dwelt
וַיֵּשְׁב֣וּvai.ye.she.Vu
H3427
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
cities
בְּעָרֵיהֶ֑םbe.'a.rei.Hem
H5892
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
cities
בְּעָרֵיהֶֽםbe.'a.rei.Hem
H5892
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Nehemiah 7:73 So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt in their…
1 Chronicles 9:2 Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were, the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the Nethinims.
1 Chronicles 11:2 And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said unto t…
Ezra 6:16-17 And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house o…
Nehemiah 11:3-36 Now these are the chief of the province that dwelt in Jerusalem: but in the cities of Judah dwelt every one in his possession in their citie…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezra 2:64–end
Here is, I. The sum total of the company that returned out of Babylon. The particular sums before mentioned amount not quite to 30,000 (29,818), so that there were above 12,000 that come out into any of those accounts, who, it is probable, were of the rest of the tribes of Israel, besides Judah and Benjamin, that could not tell of what particular family or city they were, but that they were Israelites, and of what tribe. Now, 1. This was more than double the number that were carried captive into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, so that, as in Egypt, the time of their affliction was the time of their increase. 2. These were but few to begin a nation with, and yet, by virtue of the old promise made…
drams of gold--rather, "darics," a Persian coin (see on Ch1 29:7).
priests' garments--(compare Neh 7:70). This--in the circumstances--was a very appropriate gift. In general, it may be remarked that presents of garments, or of any other usable commodities, however singular it may seem to us, is in harmony with the established notions and customs of the East.
Next: Ezra Chapter 3
Adam Clarke on Ezra 2:70
Dwelt in their cities - They all went to those cities which belonged originally to their respective families.
John Gill on Ezra 2:70
So the priests and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities,.... Which were assigned to them out of the several tribes, and in which they or their forefathers had dwelt before the captivity:
and all Israel in their cities; as those of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, so of the other ten, as many as returned and joined those who were left in the land.
Keil & Delitzsch on Ezra 2:68–end
Contributions towards the rebuilding of the temple, and concluding remarks. Comp. Neh 7:70-73. - Some of the heads of houses, when they came to the house of Jahve, i.e., arrived at the site of the temple, brought free-will offerings (התנדּב; comp. Ch1 29:5) to set it up in its place (העמיד, to set up, i.e., to rebuild; identical in meaning both here and Ezr 9:9 with הקים). After their ability (כּכוחם; comp. Ch1 29:2) they gave unto the treasure of the work, i.e., of restoring the temple and its services, 61,000 darics of gold = 68,625, and 5000 mina of silver, above 30,000, and 100 priests' garments. The account of these contributions is more accurately given in Neh 7:70-72, according to whi…
The Church Fathers
The priests and Levites, therefore, dwelt among the people, etc. The whole of Israel is mentioned, not only the ten tribes that were once called Israel, to distinguish them from the two tribes that were called Judah; but all who generally ascended from captivity, whether from Judah and Benjamin or tracing their origin from other tribes. For when the ten tribes were taken into captivity by the Assyrians and the Samaritans replaced them in their land, whoever remained broke and destroyed all idols, and with a whole heart began to serve the Lord and to offer their sacrifices in the temple, as clearly shown by the words of the Chronicles where it is written: So Josiah removed all the abominations from the land of the children of Israel and made all who were left in Israel serve the Lord their God; all his days they did not depart from following the Lord God of their fathers. And a little earlier under the same king, when the house of the Lord was being restored, it says: After the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, which the Levites and the doorkeepers had gathered from Manasseh and Ephraim and all the remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, they delivered it into the hands of those who were over the work in the house of the Lord. Therefore, those who remained, along with the tribe of Judah and Benjamin with whom they had been joined, were taken captive to Babylon together and then released to their homeland together, and each one returned to their cities, which they found empty with the fields and small villages. For no colonist had entered these lands while they served in Babylon, just as no one entered the lands of the two tribes, as Scripture says: If anyone had escaped the sword, he was taken to Babylon and served the king and his sons until the king of Persia came to power, and the word of the Lord was fulfilled through Jeremiah, and the land enjoyed its Sabbaths. For all the days of its desolation it kept Sabbath until seventy years were completed (2 Chronicles 36). So after this very long Sabbath, the land of Judah along with the rest of Israel received back its inhabitants. However, the greater part of the ten tribes, who had been taken by the Assyrians beyond the mountains of the Medes, never returned home; even if they did return, they could not have entered their cities because the…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Captivity — (1.) Of Israel. The kingdom of the ten tribes was successively invaded by several Assyrian kings. Pul (q.v.) imposed a tribute on Menahem of a thousand talents of silver (2 Kings 15:19, 20; 1 Chr.…
Levite — A descendant of the tribe of Levi (Ex. 6:25; Lev. 25:32; Num. 35:2; Josh. 21:3, 41). This name is, however, generally used as the title of that portion of the tribe which was set apart for the…
Nethinim — The name given to the hereditary temple servants in all the post-Exilian books of Scripture. The word means given, i.e., “those set apart”, viz., to the menial work of the sanctuary for the Levites.…
Ozias — Son of Joram (Matt. 1:8); called also Uzziah (2 Kings 15:32, 34).
Sadoc — Just, mentioned in the genealogy of our Lord (Matt. 1:14).
Temple, the Second — After the return from captivity, under Zerubbabel (q.v.) and the high priest Jeshua, arrangements were almost immediately made to reorganize the long-desolated kingdom. The body of pilgrims, forming…
Nethinim · With the priests and Levites: Had cities to reside in — With the priests and Levites: Had cities to reside in
Nethinims · Return from the — Return from the
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Ezra 2:70 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Each of the gold coins (Hebrew darics) was worth a month’s wages for a professional soldier. • 6,250 pounds (Hebrew 5,000 minas): Each mina weighed 20 ounces and was equal to 60 shekels of silver; each shekel was worth an average worker’s monthly wages.
Rashi on Ezra 2:69
According to their ability according to their ability and their money.
drachmas Heb. דַּרְכְּמוֹנִים, the name of a golden coin.
and priests’ tunics in which to serve.
