Of the sons of Phinehas; Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David; Hattush.
Ezra 8:2 is part of the lists of the leading ones who went up from the captivity, being simply names of persons and not an expressed precious promise to God's people, showing that not every verse in the Bible is a promise. It belongs to the account of the large number of Jews who responded to the invitation to leave Babylon and go with Ezra to Jerusalem. It belongs also to the account showing that Ezra consulted the captive Jews and gathered them at the river Ahava before the journey to Jerusalem.
It belongs to the account of Ezra and his company traveling from Babylon to Jerusalem with the decree of Artaxerxes, the decree's third and final portion, which journey chapter 8 records. That chapter stands in B.C. 458, fifty-eight years after the time of chapter 7 in B.C. 515, with the story of Esther falling between them more nearly in the middle of the reign of Xerxes from B.C. 485 to 474, about sixty years after the first return and forty years after the completion of the temple. The book of Ezra was written by Ezra the priest, and after the search of Darius the son of Hystaspes for the records concerning the Jews and the renewal of the decree of Cyrus with prosperity in building the temple, and after Darius was succeeded by Xerxes and Xerxes by Artaxerxes Longimanus under whom the decree was renewed and greatly enlarged as recorded in the seventh chapter, the verse stands in the remainder of the book recording the experiences of the Jews at Jerusalem, their backsliding, their humility, their seeking of God, and the faithful reproofs given by Ezra and others.
Ezra 8:2 is part of the lists of the leading ones who went up from the captivity, being simply names of persons and not an expressed precious promise to God's people, showing that not every verse in the Bible is a promise. It belongs to the account of the large number of Jews who responded to the invitation to leave Babylon and go with Ezra to Jerusalem. It belongs also to the account showing that Ezra consulted the captive Jews and gathered them at the river Ahava before the journey to Jerusalem.
It belongs to the account of Ezra and his company traveling from Babylon to Jerusalem with the decree of Artaxerxes, the decree's third and final portion, which journey chapter 8 records. That chapter stands in B.C. 458, fifty-eight years after the time of chapter 7 in B.C. 515, with the story of Esther falling between them more nearly in the middle of the reign of Xerxes from B.C. 485 to 474, about sixty years after the first return and forty years after the completion of the temple. The book of Ezra was written by Ezra the priest, and after the search of Darius the son of Hystaspes for the records concerning the Jews and the renewal of the decree of Cyrus with prosperity in building the temple, and after Darius was succeeded by Xerxes and Xerxes by Artaxerxes Longimanus under whom the decree was renewed and greatly enlarged as recorded in the seventh chapter, the verse stands in the remainder of the book recording the experiences of the Jews at Jerusalem, their backsliding, their humility, their seeking of God, and the faithful reproofs given by Ezra and others.