Bible Strands
Ezra 2:7
the descendants of Elam, 1,254;
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator catalogs returning exiles by ancestral line following the royal decree permitting their return to Judah. This verse records the official census count for the Elamite clan among the first wave of returnees.
The words — The text employs בְּנֵי (benei) for "descendants" and עֵילָם (Elam) to identify the clan's geographic origin. אֶלֶף (elef) paired with מָאתַיִם (matayim) and חֲמִשִּׁים (chamishim) literally enumerates one thousand two hundred fifty men.
The thread — The identical Elamite count reappears in Ezra 2:31, while Ezra 8:7 and Ezra 10:26 later name specific leaders and families drawn from this same lineage.
Why it lands — The passage requires a reader to acknowledge that post-exilic community identity was formally structured by documented ancestry and official headcounts. It demands recognition that recorded numbers serve as the administrative foundation for covenant continuity.
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 Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty and four.
Cross-references
- Ezra 2:31 the descendants of the other Elam, 1,254;
- Ezra 8:7 from the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men;
- Ezra 10:26 From the descendants of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.
- Nehemiah 7:12 the descendants of Elam, 1,254;