The first exiles return under Zerubbabel
About 50,000 people, led by Zerubbabel of David's line and the high priest Jeshua, returned to Judah and rebuilt the altar in Jerusalem.
The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred sixty
Ezra 2:64 (World English Bible)
The returnees carried back 5,400 gold and silver temple vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken. Most Jews stayed in Babylon, where life was now settled. Those who came home found ruins and hostile neighbors, but in the seventh month they rebuilt the altar and began the sacrifices again.
Places
JerusalemBabylonBethelTyreJerichoLebanonBethlehemGibeonSidonGreat SeaPersiaKiriath-jearimAnathothRamahBabyloniaGebaJoppaMichmashBeerothNetophahHarimLodOnoChephirahAzmavethHadidSenaahAddonAiCherubImmerNeboTel-harshaTel-melahGibbarMagbish
Ancient witnesses outside the Bible
Historical sources, not Scripture.
- 1 Esdras 5:1–46 — 1 Esdras sets this return in the reign of Darius
Dating notes
Ussher, 536 BC. The 42,360 of Ezra 2:64, plus 7,337 servants and 200 singers, make about 50,000.