Bible Strands
Ezra 2:13
the descendants of Adonikam, 666;
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative records a post-exilic census, cataloging returning families and their headcounts. It operates as an administrative inventory immediately following the initial Babylonian return.
The words — בְּנֵי֙ (be.Nei) literally means "descendants," and אֲדֹ֣נִיקָ֔ם ('a.Do.ni.Kam) is the proper name Adonikam. The numeral sequence שֵׁ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שִׁשִּ֥ים וְ/שִׁשָּֽה (shesh me'ot shishim ve-shishah) directly translates to six hundred sixty-six.
The thread — The same family appears in Ezra 8:13 with a later subgroup of sixty men, and Nehemiah 7:18 lists the descendants of Adonikam with a count of 667. The numerical discrepancy between Ezra 2:13 and Nehemiah 7:18 sits within parallel genealogical records.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to accept precise, non-symbolic accounting of returning exiles. It asks for recognition that identity and lineage were treated as verifiable data rather than theological metaphor.
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 Adonikam, six hundred sixty and six.
Cross-references
- Ezra 8:13 from the later descendants of Adonikam, these were their names: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men;
- Nehemiah 7:18 the descendants of Adonikam, 667;