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Nehemiah 7 · a question people ask

Why is Ezra 2's list here again, and why don't the two match?

In the text

Nehemiah says why it is here: he gathered the people "that they might be listed by genealogy", and "found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first" (7:5). What he found is the list of Ezra 2 again; Ezra 2:1 begins, "Now these are the children of the province who went up out of the captivity" (Ezra 2:1), and 7:6, "These are the children of the province who went up out of the captivity" (7:6). But not every line is the same. Where Ezra has "Seraiah, Reelaiah" (Ezra 2:2), Nehemiah has "Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani" (7:7). Ezra 2's honest question, Why don't Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 match?, and its go-deeper, Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7, side by side, set more of them next to each other. Neither book explains the differences. This study doesn't try to, and it doesn't add up either list.

The verses

“My God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be listed by genealogy. I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found this written in it:”
Nehemiah 7:5 · World English Bible
“Now these are the children of the province who went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city;”
Ezra 2:1 · World English Bible
“These are the children of the province who went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, everyone to his city,”
Nehemiah 7:6 · World English Bible
“who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:”
Ezra 2:2 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Nehemiah 7

Nehemiah 7: The city guarded, the list found

Nehemiah 7 turns from the wall to the people: Jerusalem is put in the charge of Hanani and Hananiah, "for he was a faithful man and feared God above many" (7:2), but the city is "wide and large" with few people (7:4), and what "My God put into my heart" (7:5) leads Nehemiah to the list of those who came up at the first, Ezra 2's list, found again.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions