Ezra 2:59

2:59 These are the ones that came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer (although they were unable to certify ¹  their family connection ²  or their ancestry, ³  as to whether they really were from Israel):

Ezra 2:62

2:62 They ⁴  searched for their records in the genealogical materials, but did not find them. ⁵  They were therefore excluded ⁶  from the priesthood.

Ezra 4:8

4:8 Rehum the commander ⁷  and Shimshai the scribe ⁸  wrote a letter concerning ⁹  Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:

Ezra 2:70

2:70 The priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel lived in their towns.

[2:59]  ¹ tn Heb “relate.”

[2:59]  ² tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

[2:59]  ³ tn Heb “their seed.”

[2:62]  ⁴ tn Heb “these.”

[2:62]  ⁵ tn Heb “their records were searched for in the genealogical materials, but were not found.” This passive construction has been translated as active for stylistic reasons.

[2:62]  ⁶ tn Heb “they were desecrated.”

[4:8]  ⁷ tn Aram “lord of the command.” So also in vv. 9, 17.

[4:8]  ⁸ sn Like Rehum, Shimshai was apparently a fairly high-ranking official charged with overseeing Persian interests in this part of the empire. His title was “scribe” or “secretary,” but in a more elevated political sense than that word sometimes has elsewhere. American governmental titles such as “Secretary of State” perhaps provide an analogy in that the word “secretary” can have a broad range of meaning.

[4:8]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “against.”