Passage

The descendants of Shephatiah

Source and translation

World English Bible, Protestant Edition · Public domain · en

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⁴The children of Shephatiah, three hundred seventy-two.

Ezra 2:4World English Bible, Protestant Edition

The scene

The return list counts three hundred seventy-two descendants of Shephatiah.

To understand

The chapter opens with people returning from captivity to Jerusalem and Judah, each to their own city. The families of Parosh and Arah appear on either side of this entry with their own counts.

A question

How do the family names and separate counts make this return more specific than a statement that people came back?