The sons of Jericho, 345.
English Standard Version (ESV)
While Jericho was a city famously cursed and later rebuilt, this list focuses not on its historical notoriety but on the ordinary people returning to their homes. It highlights that even after profound judgment and exile, God’s people remembered and returned to their ancestral towns, large or small.
The sons of Jericho, 345.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This verse is part of a long, detailed list in Ezra 2 enumerating the families and individuals returning to Jerusalem after their exile in Babylon. The entire chapter functions as a census, accounting for who was rebuilding their lives and the community, highlighting the specific contributions and lineages of those making the journey. Before this verse, other towns and their returning populations are named, and after it, the list continues with more families and their numbers.
Imagine returning home after years of exile, seeing your ancestral city for the first time in a generation. What would that feel like?
Ezra chapter 2 is a record of who returned to Judah after the Babylonian captivity. This wasn't just a random group of people; these were families, tracing their lineage back to specific cities and regions.
A Detailed Census
The names and numbers listed, like the 345 individuals from Jericho, highlight the meticulous nature of this return. It wasn't an abstract 'remnant' but a concrete community with established roots. Each number represents a person, a family, and a connection to a specific place that was once theirs.
Reclaiming Identity
Returning to their cities was more than just finding a new address. It was a reclaiming of identity, a step towards rebuilding their lives and their nation based on their covenant with God in their ancestral homeland.
Jericho, a city with a dramatic past, holds a unique place in Israel's story. Why is its inclusion here so significant?
The mention of Jericho in this list of returnees is striking because of the city's history. It was a place of both divine judgment and later, of prophetic significance.
A Cursed Foundation
Jericho was the first city conquered by Joshua upon entering the Promised Land, a victory that came with a curse: 'Cursed be the man before the LORD who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho! At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates' (Joshua 6:26).
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Rebuilt Against the Curse
Centuries later, this curse was fulfilled when Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho during the reign of Ahab, losing his eldest son at the foundation and his youngest at the gates (1 Kings 16:34). Despite this grim history, the city persisted, becoming a place associated with the schools of the prophets.
A Symbol of Hope
For those returning from exile, seeing people from Jericho among them represented a community that, despite its complex and even cursed past, was part of God's redemptive plan. It shows that even places marked by judgment could be reclaimed and inhabited by God's people.
Understand the original words
Yeriicho · Hebrew Proper Noun
A city famous for its history in the conquest of Canaan and its location in the Jordan Valley. Identifying 'sons of Jericho' highlights the continuity of the people of God with the significant sites of Israel's salvation history.
The list of families returning from exile in Ezra 2 provides a concrete snapshot of the Judean community re-establishing itself in its homeland after decades of Babylonian captivity and destruction.
c. 722 BC
Fall of the Northern Kingdom
The Northern Kingdom of Israel falls to the Assyrian Empire, leading to the exile of many Israelites and the scattering of the population.
605 BC
First Deportation to Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, begins deporting Judeans, including elites and skilled workers, to Babylon. This marks the beginning of the Babylonian exile.
597 BC
Second Deportation to Babylon
A further wave of exiles is taken to Babylon, including King Jehoiachin and more of the Judean leadership.
586 BC
Destruction of Jerusalem
Nebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and the Temple, carrying the remaining population into exile in Babylon. This event devastates the Judean people.
539 BC
Cyrus the Great Conquers Babylon
Cyrus the Great of Persia defeats the Babylonian Empire, opening the way for the return of exiled peoples.
538 BC— this verse
Cyrus' Decree for Return
Cyrus issues a decree permitting the exiled Jews to return to Judah and rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem. This initiates the first wave of return.
c. 537-515 BC
Rebuilding the Temple
Under leaders like Zerubbabel, the returning exiles begin the process of rebuilding the Second Temple in Jerusalem, facing significant opposition.
This passage is a parallel account within the same biblical narrative, listing the same group of returnees from exile and specifying the same number from Jericho, reinforcing the historical record.
1 Kings 16:34This verse speaks of Jericho being rebuilt despite a curse, offering context to why people from Jericho would be returning to their city during the post-exilic period.
Joshua 6:26This foundational story of Jericho's destruction by Joshua and the pronouncement that its rebuilder would face ruin provides a stark contrast to the return of its inhabitants centuries later.
Jeremiah 29:10This prophecy foretells a specific period of exile in Babylon, which directly sets the stage for the event described in Ezra where people are returning 'unto his city'.
henryEzra 2:1-35: "Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city;"
2:1-35 An account was kept of the families that came up out of captivity. See how sin lowers a nation, which righteousness would exalt!
cambridgeEzra 2:34: "The children of Jericho, three hundred forty and five."
34 . Jericho ] or the city of palms ( Deuteronomy 34:3 ; Jdg 1:16 ; 2 Chronicles 28:15 ), destroyed by Joshua (Joshua 6), rebuilt by Hiel the Bethelite in the days of Ahab ( 1 Kings 16:34 ) and apparently included in the Northern Kingdom. It was the home of one of the schools of the prophets ( 2 Kings 2:5 ). It is now called Rîcha or Ericha. It is distant about 18 miles E. from Jerusalem, and 1½ W. from the Jordan.
While Jericho was a city famously cursed and later rebuilt, this list focuses not on its historical notoriety but on the ordinary people returning to their homes. It highlights that even after profound judgment and exile, God’s people remembered and returned to their ancestral towns, large or small.
This verse is part of a long, detailed list in Ezra 2 enumerating the families and individuals returning to Jerusalem after their exile in Babylon. The entire chapter functions as a census, accounting for who was rebuilding their lives and the community, highlighting the specific contributions and lineages of those making the journey. Before this verse, other towns and their returning populations are named, and after it, the list continues with more families and their numbers.
This verse is part of a long, detailed list in Ezra 2 enumerating the families and individuals returning to Jerusalem after their exile in Babylon. The entire chapter functions as a census, accounting for who was rebuilding their lives and the community, highlighting the specific contributions and lineages of those making the journey. Before this verse, other towns and their returning populations are named, and after it, the list continues with more families and their numbers.
"The sons of Jericho, 345." — While Jericho was a city famously cursed and later rebuilt, this list focuses not on its historical notoriety but on the ordinary people returning to their homes. It highlights that even after profou…
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Last reviewed October 2026