Nehemiah 7 · WEB
The List of Returned Exiles
Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.
Tap a verse to copy it, open the Hebrew, or write a note.
Now when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed,
2I put my brother Hanani and Hananiah the ruler of the palace in charge over Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man and feared God above many.
3I said to them, "Don't let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut the doors and set the bars. Appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each in his watch, and each in front of his own house."
4Now the city was wide and large, but the people were few in it, and the houses were not built.
5My God put it into my heart to gather together the nobles, the rulers, and the people, to be reckoned by genealogy. I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written in it:
6These 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;
7who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:
8The children of Parosh: two thousand one hundred seventy-two.
9The children of Shephatiah: three hundred seventy-two.
10The children of Arah: six hundred fifty-two.
11The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab: two thousand eight hundred eighteen.
12The children of Elam: one thousand two hundred fifty-four.
13The children of Zattu: eight hundred forty-five.
14The children of Zaccai: seven hundred sixty.
15The children of Binnui: six hundred forty-eight.
16The children of Bebai: six hundred twenty-eight.
17The children of Azgad: two thousand three hundred twenty-two.
18The children of Adonikam: six hundred sixty-seven.
19The children of Bigvai: two thousand sixty-seven.
20The children of Adin: six hundred fifty-five.
21The children of Ater, of Hezekiah: ninety-eight.
22The children of Hashum: three hundred twenty-eight.
23The children of Bezai: three hundred twenty-four.
24The children of Hariph: one hundred twelve.
25The children of Gibeon: ninety-five.
26The men of Bethlehem and Netophah: one hundred eighty-eight.
27The men of Anathoth: one hundred twenty-eight.
28The men of Beth Azmaveth: forty-two.
29The men of Kiriathjearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth: seven hundred forty-three.
30The men of Ramah and Geba: six hundred twenty-one.
31The men of Michmas: one hundred twenty-two.
32The men of Bethel and Ai: one hundred twenty-three.
33The men of the other Nebo: fifty-two.
34The children of the other Elam: one thousand two hundred fifty-four.
35The children of Harim: three hundred twenty.
36The children of Jericho: three hundred forty-five.
37The children of Lod, Hadid, and Ono: seven hundred twenty-one.
38The children of Senaah: three thousand nine hundred thirty.
39The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua: nine hundred seventy-three.
40The children of Immer: one thousand fifty-two.
41The children of Pashhur: one thousand two hundred forty-seven.
42The children of Harim: one thousand seventeen.
43The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the children of Hodevah: seventy-four.
44The singers: the children of Asaph: one hundred forty-eight.
45The gatekeepers: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai: one hundred thirty-eight.
46The temple servants: the children of Ziha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth,
47the children of Keros, the children of Sia, the children of Padon,
48the children of Lebana, the children of Hagaba, the children of Salmai,
49the children of Hanan, the children of Giddel, the children of Gahar,
50the children of Reaiah, the children of Rezin, the children of Nekoda,
51the children of Gazzam, the children of Uzza, the children of Paseah,
52the children of Besai, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephushesim,
53the children of Bakbuk, the children of Hakupha, the children of Harhur,
54the children of Bazlith, the children of Mehida, the children of Harsha,
55the children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Temah,
56the children of Neziah, the children of Hatipha.
57The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida,
58the children of Jaala, the children of Darkon, the children of Giddel,
59the children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth Hazzebaim, the children of Amon.
60All the temple servants, and the children of Solomon's servants: three hundred ninety-two.
61These were those who went up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer; but they could not show their fathers' houses nor their offspring, whether they were of Israel:
62the children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda: six hundred forty-two.
63Of the priests: the children of Hobaiah, the children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai.
64These sought their place among those who were registered by genealogy, but it was not found; therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.
65The governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things until there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.
66The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred sixty,
67besides their male servants and their female servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven. They had two hundred forty-five singing men and singing women.
68Their horses: seven hundred thirty-six; their mules: two hundred forty-five;
69their camels: four hundred thirty-five; their donkeys: six thousand seven hundred twenty.
70Some of the heads of fathers' households gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury one thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, and five hundred thirty priests' garments.
71Some of the heads of fathers' households gave into the treasury of the work twenty thousand darics of gold and two thousand two hundred minas of silver.
72That which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold and two thousand minas of silver and sixty-seven priests' garments.
73So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel lived in their cities.
✶
Summary
After the wall is complete, Nehemiah secures Jerusalem with trustworthy governors and strict gate-keeping protocols — the city is vast but still sparsely populated. God prompts him to consult the genealogical register of the first return, and the chapter reproduces that list (nearly identical to Ezra 2) including all the family clans, priests, Levites, temple servants, and those whose genealogy was uncertain. The total is again 42,360. The chapter closes with the community settled in their towns, setting the stage for the great assembly in chapter 8.
Themes
- Faithful leadership as the foundation of community security
- The importance of identity, lineage, and belonging to God's people
- The transition from external building to internal community formation
Key verses
- Neh 7:2 — “I put... Hananiah the ruler of the palace in charge... for he was a faithful man and feared God above many.”
- Neh 7:4 — “The city was wide and large, but the people were few in it.”
- Neh 7:5 — “My God put it into my heart to gather together the nobles, the rulers, and the people, to be reckoned by genealogy.”
Context & background
The wall was finished, but the city it enclosed was largely empty — the great work of repopulation lay ahead (see chapter 11). The genealogical register Nehemiah found was likely the same official list that Ezra recorded (Ezra 2), showing continuity of identity across generations. Minor numerical differences between Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 reflect different manuscript traditions or different moments in counting. Urim and Thummim (v. 65) — the priestly lots used for divine discernment — had apparently not been in use since before the exile; their absence created a significant gap in priestly decision-making. Jerusalem = modern Israel.
Cross-references
- Ezra 2:1-70 — The nearly parallel list from the first return
- Luke 10:20 — "Your names are written in heaven" — the ultimate genealogical list
- Nehemiah 11 — The repopulation of Jerusalem by lot that addresses the sparse population noted in v. 4
- Numbers 1 — Israel numbered before entering Canaan; another moment of taking stock before moving forward
- Revelation 21:27 — Only those written in the Lamb's book of life enter the new Jerusalem