Ezra 8:1

FURTHER DETAILS OF EZRA'S JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM;

THE LIST OF FAMILIES; CHIEF MEN; WITH THE NUMBERS OF RETURNEES

"Now these are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king: of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of lthamar, Daniel, Of the sons of David, Hattush. Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males a hundred and fifty. Of the sons of Pahath-moab, EUe. hoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males. Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males. And of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males. And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males. And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him fourscore males. Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males. And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him a hundred and threescore males. And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty and eight males. And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him a hundred and ten males. And of the sons of Adonikam, that were the last: and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them threescore males. And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males."

This list is parallel with that of Ezra 3:3-19, and there are many similarities. Generally, the same family names appear in both lists, although not in the same order. "The numbers here are much smaller, never reaching even a third of the totals in the other list, and sometimes falling below one twelfth."[1] Only in Ezra 8:5 (Shecaniah), Ezra 8:9 (Joab) and Ezra 8:10 (Shelomith) do we find new families mentioned; and two of these are disputed.

The authenticity of his list has been challenged; but Bowman mentioned that, "It has also been defended, and that it fits."[2] "The reliability of this list is also supported by its appearance with only slight variations in 1 Esdras 8:28-40."[3]

The whole number of those accompanying Ezra on this journey, including the Levites and Nethinim finally recruited by Ezra, was placed at 1,773 males. Rawlinson placed the total number, including women and children, at about 9,000, estimating five per family.[4] Wlliamson, however, estimated the total number as "some 5,000."[5]

The most remarkable name in the whole list is that of Hattush the son of Schechaniah. "Beyond any reasonable doubt, he was the descendant of David (1 Chronicles 3:22), through Shemaiah; and he was Zerubbabel's great-great-grandson."[6]