1
Ezra 2:1
英文原文
The province - Judaea was no longer a kingdom, but a mere "province" of Persia. "The children of the province" are the Israelites who returned to Palestine, as distinct from those who remained in Babylonia and Persia.
Every one unto his city - That is, to the city whereto his forefathers had belonged. Of course, in the few cases where this was not known Ezra 2:59-62, the plan could not be carried out.
Two other copies of the following list have come down to us - one in Nehemiah 7:7-69, and the other in 1 Esdras 5:8-43. All seem to have been taken from the same original document, and to have suffered more or less from corruption. Where two out of the three agree, the reading should prevail over that of the third.
43
翻譯準備中 · 英文原文Ezra 2:43
The Nethinims - The hieroduli or sacred slaves, "given" to the Levites to assist them in their work (see 1 Chronicles 9:2 note).
59
翻譯準備中 · 英文原文Ezra 2:59
Tel-melah, Tel-harsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, were probably cities, or villages, of Babylonia, at which the Jews here spoken of had been settled. The first and third have been reasonably identified with the Thelme and Chiripha of Ptolemy. Of the rest, nothing is known at present.
63
翻譯準備中 · 英文原文Ezra 2:63
The Tirshatha - i. e., Zerubbabel. See margin. The word is probably old Persian, though it does not occur in the cuneiform inscriptions. Some derive it from a root "to fear." See the introduction to the Book of Ezra, first note.
A priest with Urim and with Thummim - See Exodus 28:30 note. According to the rabbinical writers, the second temple permanently lacked this glory of the first. Zerubbabel, it would seem by the present passage (compare Nehemiah 7:65), expected that the loss would be only temporary.
64
翻譯準備中 · 英文原文Ezra 2:64
The sum total is given without any variation by Ezra, by Nehemiah (see the marginal reference), and by Esdras (1 Esdras 5:41), who adds, that in this reckoning only those of twelve years of age and upward were counted.
It is curious that the total 42,360, is so greatly in excess of the items. Ezra's items make the number 29,818; Nehemiah's 31,089, Esdras, 33,950. The original document was probably illegible in places, and the writers were forced to make omissions.
69
翻譯準備中 · 英文原文Ezra 2:69
The numbers here and in Nehemiah (see the marginal reference) vary.
70
翻譯準備中 · 英文原文Ezra 2:70
All Israel - That the Israelites of the ten tribes returned to Palestine with Zerubbabel is apparent:
(1) from 1 Chronicles 9:3;
(2) from the enumeration of twelve chiefs (Nehemiah 7:7; 1 Esd. 5:8); and
(3) from various expressions in Ezra Ezr 2:2, Ezra 2:59; Ezra 3:1.
「那省」——猶大不再是一個王國，而只是波斯的一個「省」。「省的子孫」指歸回巴勒斯坦的以色列人，以區別於那些留在巴比倫和波斯的人。
「各歸本城」——即歸回其先祖所屬的城。當然，在少數無從查知的情形下(Ezra 2:59-62)，這辦法無法實行。
下列名單另有兩種抄本傳世——一種見於 Nehemiah 7:7-69，另一種見於 1 Esdras 5:8-43。三者看來都取自同一份原始文獻，並且都或多或少受了損壞。三份抄本中有兩份一致的地方，其讀法應優先於第三份。