Ezra 2:70

Ezr 2:70 So the priests, and the Levites, and [some] of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.

Ver. 70. And some of the people] For not half of them, as may be probably thought, returned; but condemned the rest of rashness and weakness, to their no small prejudice.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ezr 2:70. And all Israel in their cities — In the cities which their families had inhabited before their captivity. As to those who could not prove themselves Israelites by any genealogical register, they probably settled in those lands which were not claimed, or followed handicraft employments, of one sort or other, in the cities. Although their cities were out of repair, yea, in a ruinous state, yet, because they were their cities, such as God had assigned them, they were content to dwell in them; and were thankful for liberty and property, though they had little of pomp, plenty, or power. Their poverty was an afflictive cause, but their unity and unanimity were happy effects of it. Here was room enough for them all, and all their substance, so that there was no strife among them, but perfect harmony: a blessed presage of their comfortable settlement, as their discords in the latter times of that state were of their ruin.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 70. Dwelt in their cities] They all went to those cities which belonged originally to their respective families.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(70) Some of the people.—Those of the people; placed by Nehemiah after all the others.

All Israel in their cities.—The emphasis lies in the fact that, though Judah and Benjamin contributed the largest part, it was a national revival; and the constant repetition of “in their cities” has in it the same note of triumph.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

70. This verse runs more smoothly as it appears in Neh_7:73 ‘So the priests and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinim, and all Israel dwelt in their cities’.

The verse sums up the whole list.

The words ‘and some of the people’ seem to be in the wrong place between ‘the Levites’ and ‘the singers’; but the mention of ‘the singers’ before ‘the porters’ agrees more closely with the order of the list given in the present chapter than the order given in Neh_7:73.

An awkwardness is presented by the words ‘in their cities’ occurring twice, especially as the distinction drawn between ‘some of the people with the priests and Levites’ and ‘all Israel’ is not obvious. Some have seen in the words ‘all Israel’ an expression intended to combine those who had returned from captivity in Babylon with those who had remained behind in Palestine and had never been carried away captive. Others have seen in it an allusion to representatives of the 10 Tribes who were to be found among the new community, and compare it with the mention of the 12 leaders of the people in Ezr_2:2 (cf. 1Ch_9:3).

Perhaps the most probable explanation is that the text has suffered corruption and that the verse originally ran ‘So the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, and some of the people, even all Israel, dwelt in their cities’, or as 1Es_8:45.

dwelt in their cities. Cf. ‘returned … every one unto his city’ Ezr_2:1. The document from which this list was extracted contemplates the work of settling into their cities, which must have been a slow and gradual process, as one that had been for some time accomplished. At first only Jerusalem and the towns in the immediate neighbourhood could thus have been occupied.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

All Israel - That the Israelites of the ten tribes returned to Palestine with Zerubbabel is apparent:

(1) from 1Ch 9:3;

(2) from the enumeration of twelve chiefs (Neh 7:7; 1 Esd. 5:8); and

(3) from various expressions in Ezra Ezr 2:2, Ezr 2:59; Ezr 3:1.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Some. The laics, mentioned from ver. 2., to 35. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

70. In their cities — The cities assigned them as their future homes. With many these cities were ancestral homes.

All Israel — The entire community of returned exiles who now represented the Israelitish nation.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In their cities. Not in Jerusalem only, but in the neighboring towns also, e.g. Bethlehem, Anathoth, Ramah, Gaba, Michmash, Bethel, Ai, Nebo, and Jericho (see above, comment on ver. 1). All Israel. Ezra very determinately puts forward this aspect of the return that it was participated in by all the tribes (see 2:2; 3:1; 6:16, 17; 7:13; 8:29, 35, etc.). He does not, however, exclude the other aspect, that it was especially a return of Judah, or "Judah and Benjamin". (see Ezr_5:1 Ezr_10:9)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And all Israel in their cities - And they dwelt in peace, in perfect harmony, a blessed presage of their settlement, as their discord in the latter times of that state, was of their ruin.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

All the people in Israel were in their cities

Everyone went back to their home towns in Judea. Not everyone resettled in Jerusalem.

translationWords

priest

Levi

people group

temple

servant

Israel

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.