The children of Arah, seven hundred seventy and five.

EZRA 2:5KJV
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Ezra 2:5 (KJV)

What does Ezra 2:5 mean?

Ezra 2:5 records 775 people identified with the family group of Arah among those returning from exile. The number gives one group’s place in the larger record of people who returned to Judah and Jerusalem.

“Children of Arah” means Arah’s descendants, not simply his young sons and daughters. Like the family names around it, Arah’s name identifies a group by its ancestry.

Why Ezra 2:5 matters

  • The count belongs to a family group rather than a town. The list later changes to place names, such as Bethlehem in Ezra 2:21.
  • A related list gives a different number for Arah’s group: Nehemiah 7:10 records 652. The two lists do not explain the difference.

Where else these words appear

“Arah” Hebrew H733 · used in 4 verses

  • 1 Chronicles 7:39 And the sons of Ulla; Arah, and Haniel, and Rezia.
  • Nehemiah 6:18 For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.
  • Nehemiah 7:10 The children of Arah, six hundred fifty and two.

“seventy” Hebrew H7657 · used in 90 verses

  • Genesis 4:24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
  • Numbers 7:73 His offering was one silver charger, the weight whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering:
  • 1 Chronicles 21:14 So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.