Bible Strands
Nehemiah 7:32
the men of Bethel and Ai, 123;
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Nehemiah records a census of returning exiles, listing household heads by their ancestral towns. The entry appears in a sequential tally of families repatriated after the Babylonian deportation.
The words — אַנְשֵ֤י ('anShei) = [the] men of, and בֵֽת־אֵל (beit-'el) = Bethel. The Hebrew combines the root for men with the toponym for the northern settlement.
The thread — Ezra 2:28 repeats the list with a count of 223 for the same towns. Joshua 8:9 and Joshua 8:17 document the earlier military campaign that captured Ai and Bethel.
Why it lands — The text records a precise headcount of a specific returning community. It requires the reader to note how post-exilic settlement numbers differ from the conquest-era population.
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 Beth–el and Ai, an hundred twenty and three.
Cross-references
- Ezra 2:28 the men of Bethel and Ai, 223;
- Joshua 8:9 So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.
- Joshua 8:17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.