Bible Strands
Ezra 8:1
These are the family heads and genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Ezra addresses the returning exiles, introducing a roster of family heads who traveled with him from Babylon to Jerusalem during King Artaxerxes' reign. He delivers this statement at the opening of a chapter that immediately follows with a list of specific descendants.
The words — The Hebrew phrase וְ/אֵ֛לֶּה רָאשֵׁ֥י אֲבֹתֵי/הֶ֖ם (ve./'E.leh ra.Shei 'a.vo.tei./Hem) translates literally as "and these [are] heads of fathers their," establishing the genealogical framework for the subsequent list.
The thread — Ezra 7:7 records the historical departure from Babylon under Artaxerxes, while 1 Chronicles 4:33 and 1 Chronicles 9:1 document similar Israelite genealogical registers and settlement records. These passages share a consistent editorial method of preserving tribal and priestly lineages after exile.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to verify that the restored community was organized around documented family and priestly lineages rather than arbitrary groupings. It demands a careful examination of the named individuals in the following verses to understand the structural foundation of the 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
These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.
Cross-references
- Ezra 7:7 So in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, he went up to Jerusalem with some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants.
- 1 Chronicles 4:33 and all their surrounding villages as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they kept a genealogical record:
- 1 Chronicles 9:1 So all Israel was recorded in the genealogies written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. But Judah was exiled to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.
- 1 Chronicles 9:34 All these were heads of Levite families, chiefs according to their genealogies, and they lived in Jerusalem.
- 1 Chronicles 24:31 As their brothers the descendants of Aaron did, they also cast lots in the presence of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families of the priests and Levites—the family heads and their younger brothers alike.
- 1 Chronicles 26:32 Among Jerijah’s relatives there were 2,700 capable men who were heads of families. King David appointed them over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh for every matter pertaining to God and for the affairs of the king.
- 2 Chronicles 26:12 The total number of family leaders of the mighty men of valor was 2,600.
- Ezra 1:5 So the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and Levites—everyone whose spirit God had stirred—prepared to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.
- 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.
- Ezra 7:13 I hereby decree that any volunteers among the Israelites in my kingdom, including the priests and Levites, may go up with you to Jerusalem.