The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore,
The whole congregation that returned together numbered 42,360, or nearly fifty thousand. They made the return to Canaan under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua in response to the opportunity offered by Cyrus. That count does not include their servants and maids.
Those who returned were only a comparatively small remnant compared with the hundreds of thousands of Israelites scattered through the Medo-Persian provinces. Many others chose to remain in captivity in exile, and most stayed behind rather than face the hardships of the journey and of rebuilding their homes and cities. They arrived safely from the journey and set about restoring Jerusalem's worship and the temple and its services.
The whole congregation that returned together numbered 42,360, or nearly fifty thousand. They made the return to Canaan under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua in response to the opportunity offered by Cyrus. That count does not include their servants and maids.
Those who returned were only a comparatively small remnant compared with the hundreds of thousands of Israelites scattered through the Medo-Persian provinces. Many others chose to remain in captivity in exile, and most stayed behind rather than face the hardships of the journey and of rebuilding their homes and cities. They arrived safely from the journey and set about restoring Jerusalem's worship and the temple and its services.