The priests, the sons of Phinehas, son of Aaron: Jeshua the son of Jozadak, son of Seraiah: These words account for the tribe of Levi, the priesthood. The man who actually returned from Babylon to Jerusalem, whom this line concerns, was Jeshua. This is the Jeshua of Ezra 2.2 and Neh 7.7, an important figure in the return, not only in Ezra and Nehemiah, but also in Haggai and Zechariah, where he is called “Joshua” in Hebrew (see, for instance, Hag 2.4 and Zech 6.11; compare Sir 49.12). Good News Bible and Contemporary English Version consistently use the name “Joshua” for this person to identify him clearly. The form “Jeshua” is retained by Good News Bible and Contemporary English Version in Ezra, Nehemiah and 1 Esdras where the name refers to people other than this priest. To keep the identity of these people clear, this is a good model to follow. Good News Bible provides a helpful model for the first half of verse 5, saying “Among the priests, descendants of Phinehas son of Aaron, was Joshua, son of Jozadak and grandson of Seraiah.”
And Joakim the son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, of the house of David, of the lineage of Phares, of the tribe of Judah: We believe that a new sentence should begin here. Otherwise, as Revised Standard Version translates, the family line of David is a continuation of the line of priests, which is clearly impossible. The name Joakim is a problem for the following three reasons: (1) In the list of Zerubbabel’s sons in 1 Chr 3.19, no such name is given. (2) The relative clause which follows this name, who spoke wise words before Darius …, obviously refers to Zerubbabel. (3) The name Joakim never occurs in any list of Israel’s priesthood. The only possible exception is a Joakim who is High Priest in the book of Judith (Jdt 4.6, 8, 14; 15.8), but scholars believe this is a fictitious name there, or a pseudonym for a real person. New English Bible solves the problem by assuming a textual error, so it changes verse 5 to read “The priests, the sons of Phineas son of Aaron, with Jeshua son of Josedek son of Saraeas, and Joakim his son; and Zerubbabel son of Salathiel of the house of David of the line of Phares of the tribe of Judah.” Revised English Bible rejects this change, and has the same text as Revised Standard Version does, with the same problem. Good News Bible has taken another approach, suggested by Torrey (1945, page 404; see also Myers, page 58). This approach assumes not a textual error, but a translational error, in which a Hebrew phrase meaning “and with him arose Zerubbabel” was mistaken for “and Joakim son of Zerubbabel.” We will not get technical here, but it is very easy to see how this error could have been made, and it solves the problem. We therefore suggest following Good News Bible, even though the solution is a conjecture. For the last half of verse 5 Good News Bible has “He was accompanied by Zerubbabel, who was the son of Shealtiel of the family of David, of the line of Perez, of the tribe of Judah.” Phares is the Greek spelling for the Hebrew name “Perez” (Good News Bible). We prefer the spelling used by Good News Bible here.
Who spoke wise words before Darius the king of the Persians, in the second year of his reign, in the month of Nisan, the first month: The relative pronoun who refers back to Zerubbabel. The wise words refers to Zerubbabel’s speeches in 1 Esd 4.14-40. In 1 Esd 2.30 the author said work on the Temple stopped and did not begin again until the second year of Darius’ reign. Here the contest that Zerubbabel won is dated to the first month of that year. Nisan was the first month of the Babylonian calendar. This name is from an Akkadian word meaning “opening” or “beginning.” This was also the first month in the Hebrew calendar, where it was given the Canaanite name “Abib” (see Exo 13.4). This month corresponds to our time of year from mid-March to mid-April.
Alternative models for verses 5-6 are:
• 5 From among the priests who were descended from Aaron and Phinehas, Jeshua returned to Jerusalem. He was the son of Jozadak and grandson of Seraiah. Along with him went* Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel. He was descended from Perez and David, and belonged to the tribe of Judah. 6 Zerubbabel was the one who gave such a clever [or, wise] speech to Darius. That happened during the first month, called Nisan,** of the second year that Darius was king of Persia.
* With him went may be the original text. The Greek text has and Joakim son of.
** Nisan is the first month of the Babylonian calendar. It runs from mid-March to mid-April.
• Among these Jews was a group of priests who were descended from Aaron and Phinehas. Jeshua the son of Jozadak and grandson of Seraiah was one of them. Along with him….
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.