Ezra 2:65
Beside their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women. Beside their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women.
This record belongs to the company that returned from captivity to Judea with Zerubbabel and Joshua. Zerubbabel was a descendant of King David whom Cyrus made governor, and Joshua the high priest was joined with him. The returning community included 7,337 servants and maids and 200 singing men and women.
Together with the preceding verse, it shows that nearly fifty thousand of the children of the captivity took advantage of the decree permitting their return under the favor shown them by Cyrus. That returning company was only a mere remnant in comparison with the hundreds of thousands scattered throughout the provinces of Medo-Persia. The great majority chose to remain in the land of their exile rather than undergo the hardships of the return journey and the reestablishment of their desolated cities and homes.
The long journey across the desert wastes was accomplished in safety, and the grateful company at once began reestablishing what had been broken down and destroyed. The chief of the fathers led in giving of their substance to meet the expense of rebuilding the temple, and the people followed their example by giving freely from their meager store.