Ezra 2:5

Study note

Setting — The text functions as a genealogical register, listing a specific returning family and its numerical headcount within a broader census of exiles reentering Judah.

The words — בְּנֵ֣י (be.Nei) translates literally as descendants of, and אָרַ֔ח ('a.Rach) names the patriarch whose lineage is being enumerated.

The thread — Nehemiah 7:10 reproduces the census of the descendants of Arah but records a count of 652, while Nehemiah 6:18 identifies Shecaniah son of Arah as a key figure bound by oath to the rebuilding effort.

Why it lands — The verse demands precise attention to the recorded lineage and headcount of one family, requiring the reader to note the numerical divergence between Ezra’s and Nehemiah’s parallel registers.

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.