The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred fifty and two.
The verse names the children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, and the children of Nekoda, numbering six hundred fifty and two in all among those returning from Babylon. It belongs to the list of those who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel in the first year of Cyrus in response to his proclamation to rebuild the temple. That first returning company numbered 42,360 people, nearly fifty thousand Jews who accepted Cyrus's offer to return to their own land. The account is part of the history of the return from exile and the rebuilding of the temple in Ezra 1-6, placed around 520 B.C.
Cyrus's decree ended the captivity by making the exiles free to leave, though many remained in exile. The surrounding account shows the importance of genealogical records, while the question of unproven descent concerns the nearby priestly families, not these three families. His decree concerned rebuilding the temple and necessary buildings, not the full restoration of Jerusalem required to start Daniel's prophetic period, and this verse gives only a count of returning families, not the date of that later command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
The verse names the children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, and the children of Nekoda, numbering six hundred fifty and two in all among those returning from Babylon. It belongs to the list of those who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel in the first year of Cyrus in response to his proclamation to rebuild the temple. That first returning company numbered 42,360 people, nearly fifty thousand Jews who accepted Cyrus's offer to return to their own land. The account is part of the history of the return from exile and the rebuilding of the temple in Ezra 1-6, placed around 520 B.C.
Cyrus's decree ended the captivity by making the exiles free to leave, though many remained in exile. The surrounding account shows the importance of genealogical records, while the question of unproven descent concerns the nearby priestly families, not these three families. His decree concerned rebuilding the temple and necessary buildings, not the full restoration of Jerusalem required to start Daniel's prophetic period, and this verse gives only a count of returning families, not the date of that later command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.