The verse names the children of Harim among those who returned from Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem, to their own land, numbering them at 1,017. They came up with Zerubbabel in the first year of Cyrus, in response to the opportunity to return given by Cyrus's decree. The whole list of those already returned at that time numbers 42,360 persons, spoken of as nearly fifty thousand Jews who accepted the opportunity to return. That company was distinct both from the Jews who still remained in Babylon and from the large number who afterward went up to Jerusalem with Ezra. This return list forms the historical setting for the rebuilding of the temple, a work begun under the decree of Cyrus in Haggai's time.
The verse names the children of Harim among those who returned from Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem, to their own land, numbering them at 1,017. They came up with Zerubbabel in the first year of Cyrus, in response to the opportunity to return given by Cyrus's decree. The whole list of those already returned at that time numbers 42,360 persons, spoken of as nearly fifty thousand Jews who accepted the opportunity to return. That company was distinct both from the Jews who still remained in Babylon and from the large number who afterward went up to Jerusalem with Ezra. This return list forms the historical setting for the rebuilding of the temple, a work begun under the decree of Cyrus in Haggai's time.