Nehemiah 7:6
What does Nehemiah 7:6 mean?
A plain-English look at Nehemiah 7:6 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Nehemiah 7:6 means
This verse introduces the catalog: those who returned from captivity under Babylon, each going back to his city in Judah and Jerusalem. It emphasizes restoration to ancestral places, not random resettlement. Nebuchadnezzar’s deportation scattered them; now God’s providence gathers them. The phrase “children of the province” reflects their status under Persian rule yet acknowledges their distinct identity. The return is both political permission and spiritual homecoming. By listing them, Nehemiah affirms continuity between past and present, showing that those who belong to the land and covenant are being re-established according to known ties and rightful inheritances.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000These are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and that returned unto Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city;
KJV
King James Version · 1611These are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city;
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901These are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and that returned unto Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city;
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949These are the people of the divisions of the kingdom, among those who had been made prisoners by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and taken away by him, who went back to Jerusalem and Judah, every one to his town;
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862These <FI>are<Fi> sons of the province, those coming up of the captives of the removal that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed--and they turn back to Jerusalem and to Judah, each to his city--
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752These are the children of the province, who came up from the captivity of them that had been carried away, whom Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned into Judea, every one into his own city.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890These are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city;
Context
Following Nehemiah’s decision to consult genealogies (verse 5), verse 6 begins the formal record of the first returnees. It provides the narrative frame for the long series of names and totals in verses 7–60. This opening statement clarifies that the list is about those originally brought back after the exile, whose identity now guides present settlement and service. It prepares the reader for the leaders named in verse 7 and the many family and town groups that follow, all of which justify who is included in Israel’s restored community.
v.5And my God put into my heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of them that came up at the first, and I found written therein:
v.6This passage
v.7who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Jeremiah 52:1
Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
- Ezra 6:2
And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, a roll, and therein was thus written for a record:
- Jeremiah 39:1
(in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and besieged it;
- Ezra 2:1
Now these are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and that returned unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city;
- 2 Chronicles 36:1
Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s stead in Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 25:11
And the residue of the people that were left in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away captive.
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