Bible Strands
Ezra 2:62
These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ezra the scribe documents the returning exiles, specifically addressing priests who cannot verify their ancestral lineage. This occurs during the initial post-exilic return under Zerubbabel and Jeshua, immediately before the community addresses unresolved priestly qualifications.
The words — The Hebrew verb בִּקְשׁוּ (bik.shu) means "they searched," paired with כְתָבָם (khetavam), "their records," to describe the attempt to trace genealogy. The verb יְגֹאֲלוּ (y.go'alu) literally means "they were defiled," a legal declaration of unclean status that triggers their exclusion from priestly service.
The thread — This lineage requirement echoes Numbers 3:10 and Leviticus 21:21, which restrict priestly service to verified descendants of Aaron. The governor’s decree in Ezra 2:63 to withhold holy food until the Urim and Thummim are consulted extends this same standard of documented purity.
Why it lands — The text establishes that priestly eligibility depends on verifiable ancestry rather than personal merit or ritual performance. A reader must recognize that religious office requires objective documentation of lineage, and that unresolved questions of qualification halt participation in sacred duties.
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
These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.
Cross-references
- Numbers 3:10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”
- Numbers 16:39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar,
- Leviticus 21:21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the food offerings to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God.
- Numbers 18:7 But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”
- Ezekiel 44:10 Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.