These are the Levites who returned from exile: The families of Jeshua and Kadmiel (descendants of Hodaviah) 74
Parallel translations
- WEB The Levites: the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the children of Hodaviah, seventy-four.
- KJV The Levites: the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the children of Hodaviah, seventy and four.
- BSB The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel (through the line of Hodaviah), 74.
- NKJV The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, seventy-four.
- NASB The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Levites, descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel, numbered only 74. Strikingly few Levites returned compared with the priests.
Overview
The small number of returning Levites stands out against the thousands of priests. Levites assisted in temple service, teaching, and music, and their scarcity later prompted special effort to recruit them (Ezra 8:15-20). The contrast reminds us that willing service to God is not always abundant and must be sought and valued.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Ezra 3:9Then Jeshua stood with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to have the oversight of the workmen in God’s house: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brothers the Levites.
- Neh 7:43The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, of the children of Hodevah, seventy-four.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The return from exile and the rebuilt altar keep alive the hope of a greater restoration — the true return from our deeper exile of sin accomplished by Christ.
How Ezra 2:40 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.