Bible Strands
Nehemiah 7:6
These are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Nehemiah addresses the assembled nobles, officials, and people after locating a genealogical register of the first returnees. He reads the opening line of that document to identify the exiles who returned from Babylon.
The words — בְּנֵי (benei) means "children of" or "descendants of," and הָעֹלִים (ha'olim) means "those who came up." Paired with אֵלֶּה (elleh, "these"), the phrase literally declares "These are the children of the province who came up."
The thread — The identical opening phrase appears in Ezra 2:1, while the theme of provincial identity and exile returns runs through Ezra 5:8 and Jeremiah 52:1.
Why it lands — The text first records the literal return of exiled families to Jerusalem and Judah before establishing the historical basis for communal enrollment. Readers must account for the precise geographic and genealogical restoration of the Babylonian captives.
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 the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city;
Cross-references
- Ezra 2:1 Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town,
- Ezra 5:8 Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. The people are rebuilding it with large stones and placing timbers in the walls. This work is being carried out diligently and is prospering in their hands.
- Jeremiah 52:1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.
- Jeremiah 39:1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to the city.
- 2 Kings 24:14 He carried into exile all Jerusalem—all the commanders and mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and metalsmiths—ten thousand captives in all. Only the poorest people of the land remained.
- 2 Kings 25:11 Then Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon and the rest of the population.
- 2 Chronicles 36:1 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.
- Ezra 6:2 And a scroll was found in the fortress of Ecbatana, in the province of Media, with the following written on it: Memorandum: