These men searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.
Parallel translations
- WEB These sought their place among those who were registered by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they deemed disqualified and removed from the priesthood.
- KJV These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.
- NKJV These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but they were not found; therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as defiled.
- NASB These searched among their genealogical registration but they could not be located; so they were considered defiled and excluded from the priesthood.
- NLT They searched for their names in the genealogical records, but they were not found, so they were disqualified from serving as priests.
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
These families could not find their genealogical records, so they were excluded from the priesthood. Holiness required verified legitimacy, not mere claim.
Overview
Without documented descent, these men could not serve as priests, however sincere their desire. The leaders did not bend the rule, guarding the integrity of worship and the holiness of God's house. It foreshadows the need for a perfectly verified and rightful priest, ultimately fulfilled in Christ, whose priesthood God Himself confirmed (Hebrews 7:14-17).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Num 3:10So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”
- Num 16:39–40So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned up, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar,
- Lev 21:21–23No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God.
- Num 18:7But only you and your sons shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and what is inside the veil, and you are to perform that service. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but any outsider who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death.”
- Ezek 44:10–14Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.
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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 2:62 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.