Ezra 8:1

These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
chief	רָאשֵׁ֥י ra.Shei	H7218	the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine plural construct
fathers	אֲבֹתֵיהֶ֖ם 'a.vo.tei.Hem	H1	father · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
genealogy	וְהִתְיַחְשָׂ֑ם ve.hit.yach.Sam	H3187	to enroll by pedigree · conjunction + verb, hithpael infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
up	הָעֹלִ֣ים ha.'o.Lim	H5927	to ascend · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
Babylon	מִבָּבֶֽל mi.ba.Vel	H894	Babel (i.e. Babylon) · preposition + proper noun, a place name
reign	בְּמַלְכ֛וּת be.mal.Khut	H4438	a rule · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Artaxerxes	אַרְתַּחְשַׁ֥סְתְּא 'ar.tach.Shast'	H783	Artachshasta (or Artaxerxes) · proper noun, a man's name
king	הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ ha.Me.lekh	H4428	a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute

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

Ezra 7:7 And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims,…
1 Chronicles 4:33 And all their villages that were round about the same cities, unto Baal. These were their habitations, and their genealogy.
1 Chronicles 9:1 So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, who were carried aw…
1 Chronicles 9:34 These chief fathers of the Levites were chief throughout their generations; these dwelt at Jerusalem.
1 Chronicles 24:31 These likewise cast lots over against their brethren the sons of Aaron in the presence of David the king, and Zadok, and Ahimelech, and the…
1 Chronicles 26:32 And his brethren, men of valour, were two thousand and seven hundred chief fathers, whom king David made rulers over the Reubenites, the Gad…
2 Chronicles 26:12 The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred.
Ezra 1:5 Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezra 8:1-20

Ezra, having received his commission from the king, beats up for volunteers, as it were, sets up an ensign to assemble the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah, Isa 11:12. "Whoever of the sons of Sion, that swell with the daughters of Babylon, is disposed to go to Jerusalem, now that the temple there is finished and the temple-service set a-going, now is their time." Now one would think that under such a leader, with such encouragements, all the Jews should at length have shaken themselves from their dust, and loosed the bands of their neck, according to that call, Isa 52:1, Isa 52:2, etc. I wonder how any of them could read that chapter and yet stay behind. But multitudes did. They…

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John Gill on Ezra 8:1

These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them,.... Which follows from hence to the end of Ezra 8:14, that went up with me from Babylon; with Ezra the priest and scribe, the writer of this book: in the reign of Artaxerxes the king; that is, Darius Hystaspis, in the seventh year of his reign, see Ezra 7:1, though many think Artaxerxes Longimanus is meant.

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezra 8:1-14

A list of those heads of houses who returned with Ezra from Babylon to Jerusalem. Compare the parallel list, 1 Esdr. 8:28-40. - Ezr 8:1 The tithe: "These are the heads of the houses, and (this is) their genealogy, who went up with me." אבתיהם ראשׁי for בּית־אבתיהם ראשׁי, as frequently. והתיחשׂם, "and their genealogy," is added, because in the list following the heads of the different houses are not merely enumerated according to their own names, but the names of the races to which they belonged are also stated. Ezr 8:2 Priests and descendants of David. Of priests, Gershom of the sons of Phinehas, and Daniel of the sons of Ithamar. Gershom and Daniel are the names of heads of priestly houses,…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ezra 8:1-14

This list of the family leaders designates those who stepped out in faith and traveled with Ezra back to Jerusalem to join the Jewish community there. It lists fifteen families represented by 1,515 men. Including women and children, the total could have been around 5,000 people.

The Church Fathers

These are therefore the chiefs of the families, etc. Until the end of the genealogy, he carefully enumerates the chiefs who went up with him from Babylon and explains their genealogy. He also endeavors to add the number of those, which reaches one thousand four hundred and forty, so that he may thus suggest that the names of those who ascend from the confusion of this world are written in the book of life of the Lamb. But also, each of the teachers, namely the chiefs of the families of God's people, receives eternal rewards to the extent of the number of souls they have brought to the Lord, according to that parable in the Gospel, where, with the good and prudent servant saying: Lord, your pound has gained ten pounds (Luke XIX), the master responds to him, saying: And you will be over ten cities; that is, you will appear more glorious in the heavenly kingdom from the lives of those whom you have taught.
— Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah

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

Ezra — Help. (1.) A priest among those that returned to Jerusalem under Zerubabel (Neh. 12:1). (2.) The “scribe” who led the second body of exiles that returned from Babylon to Jerusalem B.C. 459, and…
Genealogy · Of the Jews who returned from the — Of the Jews who returned 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).

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezra 8:1-20

John Gill on Ezra 8:1

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezra 8:1-14

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ezra 8:1-14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezra 8:1-20

John Gill on Ezra 8:1

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezra 8:1-14

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ezra 8:1-14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Rashi on Ezra 8:1