2:1 1 These are the people2 of the province who were going up,3 from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem4 and Judah, each to his own city.
sn The list of names and numbers in this chapter of Ezra has a parallel account in Neh 7:6–73. The fact that the two lists do not always agree in specific details suggests that various textual errors have crept into the accounts during the transmission process.
tn The Hebrew term הָעֹלִים (ha’olim, “those who were going up” [Qal active participle]) refers to continual action in the past. Most translations render this as a simple past: “went up” (KJV), “came up” (RSV, ASV, NASV, NIV), “came” (NRSV). CEV paraphrases: “were on their way back.”