Bible Strands
Ezra 2:11
the descendants of Bebai, 623;
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The passage operates as an administrative census recording the families returning from Babylonian exile. It lists clan sizes in a sequential roll call without narrative framing.
The words — בְּנֵ֣י (benei) literally means "sons" or "descendants," paired with בֵבָ֔י (Bebai) to name the specific ancestral group. The numeral follows Hebrew syntax: six hundred, twenty, and three.
The thread — Nehemiah 7:16 records the same Bebai descendants with a count of 628. Ezra 8:11 and Ezra 10:28 also reference the clan, listing named leaders and men who took foreign wives.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that post-exile community identity rested on documented lineage. It establishes that covenant membership was verified through precise ancestral records rather than personal declaration.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty and three.
Cross-references
- Ezra 8:11 from the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him 28 men;
- Ezra 10:28 From the descendants of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.
- Nehemiah 7:16 the descendants of Bebai, 628;