The children of Jericho, three hundred forty and five.
All Commentaries on Ezra 2:34 Go To Ezra 2
Bede
AD 735
“Now these were the people of the province who came from those captive exiles.…” The text calls them children of the province of Judah, and not of Babylon. Indeed, not only those who had migrated from Judah to Babylon belonged to it, but also those who were born in Babylon from their stock. Even though they were bodily born in Babylon, they longed with all their heart for Judah and Jerusalem. And the one who represented them was their distinguished leader Zerubbabel, who showed with his name that he was born in Babylon but demonstrated with his intentions and actions that he was a citizen of Jerusalem. In a different sense, they are the children of the church, the children of the heavenly homeland, not only those who have been already imbued with the sacraments of the church but also those who have erred among the impious for a long time but have been chosen for life before the centuries by divine election and in time are to be consecrated to the mysteries of divine grace.
