Ezra 2:40 - Exposition

The Levites . The non-priestly Levites are divided into three classes:—

1. Ordinary Levites ( Ezra 2:40 );

2. Choral Levites ( Ezra 2:41 );

and Levites descended from those who had had the charge of the temple gates ( Ezra 2:42 ). Compare 1 Chronicles 24:20-31 ; 1 Chronicles 25:1-31 ; and 1 Chronicles 26:1-19 . Of the first class, only two families seem to have returned—those of Jeshua and Kadmiel, both of which traced their descent to a certain Hodaviah, or Judah ( Ezra 3:9 ).