Bible Strands
Ezra 2:23
the men of Anathoth, 128;
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text functions as a line in a post-exilic census enumerating returning families by their ancestral towns. It records the specific count of men from Anathoth who repatriated to Judah.
The words — The verse centers on עֲנָת֔וֹת (Anathoth) and the numeral phrase מֵאָ֖ה עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁמֹנָה (one hundred twenty and eight). These terms operate as a precise demographic marker within a list.
The thread — Joshua 21:18 lists Anathoth alongside Almon as part of a four-city grant with pasturelands. Nehemiah 7:27 repeats the identical census count, while Isaiah 10:30 applies the city’s name to a prophetic warning of desolation.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition of how displaced communities preserved their geographic and genealogical records. It requires the reader to assess the factual continuity of a named town against the historical reality of exile and return.
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 men of Anathoth, an hundred twenty and eight.
Cross-references
- Joshua 21:18 Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.
- Nehemiah 7:27 the men of Anathoth, 128;
- Isaiah 10:30 Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!
- Jeremiah 1:1 These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.
- Jeremiah 11:21 Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the people of Anathoth who are seeking your life and saying, “You must not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand.”