This first verse introduces a new section in the book of Ezra that is a register of the people living in Judah who had returned from Babylonia. The Hebrew connective conjunction translated here as Now does not refer to time, but functions as a transition from the preceding sentence to the listing of the people who returned to Jerusalem from Babylonia that follows.
The people of the province: The Hebrew word for people is literally “sons” or “children,” but it often has the wider meaning of descendants of a certain ancestor or inhabitants of a certain land. For instance, the expression “children of Israel” refers to all the people of Israel. Although some versions translate literally “the sons of the province” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or “the children of the province” (King James Version), most versions translate “the people of the province” as Revised Standard Version has done. In some languages a special word or prefix exists to identify the people who belong to a country or who are native to that area. Such a construction would be appropriate here.
The Hebrew word for province can mean “administrative district.” Revised Standard Version, like many other versions, does not identify this province. Good News Translation associates this word with Babylon from where the Jews were returning. Other versions (Contemporary English Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) and most commentators, however, consider it to refer to Judah, even though at that time Judah was not yet a formally recognized province (see Ezra 4.10; 5.3, 6). It was rather a semi-autonomous administrative unit within the province called “Beyond the River.” A province in the Persian Empire was administered by a satrap or governor, directly appointed by the king and responsible to him. The administrator of a semi-autonomous administrative unit did not have the status and authority of a provincial governor. Nevertheless, most versions retain the word “province” here. The translator may express this as “division of the land” or “part of the kingdom” if no direct equivalent is available. Care should be taken not to identify this administrative unit with political divisions in modern nations. It may be necessary to make explicit that Judah is being referred to here; for example, Contemporary English Version says “the people of Judah.”
Who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia: The Hebrew text is very emphatic in its repetition and in its reminder of the captivity that the people had endured and of their delivery from being captives. The people who are being listed are those “coming up” from the “captivity” of the “exile” to which Nebuchadnezzar had “exiled” them in Babylonia (so Chouraqui). The reference to Nebuchadnezzar’s carrying them away captive must indicate clearly that this occurred before the events that are being described now in this verse took place.
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon did not rule only over the city of Babylon. He ruled over the entire kingdom of Babylonia (see the comments on Ezra 1.7). Therefore this should not be translated as “chief of the city of Babylon” but rather “chief of the land of Babylon.” For a discussion of the title king of Babylon, see Ezra 5.13 and Neh 13.6.
They returned to Jerusalem and Judah: The list includes both those who actually went into captivity from Judah and those who were born in captivity in Babylonia. All these are considered to have returned to Jerusalem and Judah because Judah was their ancestral home. It would be more accurate to refer to “… Jerusalem and the rest of Judah,” since Jerusalem was in Judah.
Each to his own town: The people all returned to their ancestral towns. These were still known by the returnees two to three generations after the first group was taken into exile. All the towns mentioned in this chapter, except the three in verse 33, are within the borders of pre-exilic Judah and within ten miles of Jerusalem. The Hebrew word for town is very general and can refer to cities, villages or fortified places. Translators should use an equivalent term for a place where people live together in an organized community. With the exception of Jerusalem, most of these places were more like villages than modern cities, and in many languages the word for “village” will be the most appropriate term.
Most translators will need to restructure this verse to include all the information that is given in the original text and at the same time to introduce the list that follows. The following are possible models:
• Many people that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken away as war slaves to Babylon from the division of land called Judah returned home to their own places. They returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his own village. Here are those people.
• The persons that follow are the descendants of the people from the province of Judah whom the king of Babylonia had taken to Babylonia as captives. His name was Nebuchadnezzar. They went back to the city of Jerusalem and the province of Judah. All of them returned to their own towns.
Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Ezra. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .