The following are those who came up from Telmelah and Telharsha, under the leadership of Cherub, Addan, and Immer: The verb came up refers to going to Jerusalem (see the comments on “go up” in 1 Esdras 5.1). Telmelah and Telharsa were probably names of towns in Babylonia meaning “hill of salt” and “hill of wood” respectively. Good News Bible writes each of these names as two separate words, while Revised Standard Version writes them as single words as in the Greek text. New Revised Standard Version uses hyphens (“Tel-melah” and “Tel-harsha”). Translators should follow the pattern of their model for writing compound names. Instead of Telmelah, the Greek text has “Thermeleth,” but we prefer the Revised Standard Version spelling here.

Though they could not prove by their fathers’ houses or lineage that they belonged to Israel: One function of the lists given here was to establish the fact that the people who returned from exile in Babylonia were truly descendants of Israelite families. Official family registers had been kept in order to prove ancestry (see 1 Chr 5.17; 9.22). The people named in verses 36-37 came from the towns of Telmelah and Telharsha. For whatever reason, the descendants of Delaiah and Nekoda were not able to prove that they were descended from Jews who had once lived in Judah. Their records may have been lost. Meanwhile, they did not have full rights and privileges as members of the Jewish community. For fathers’ houses, which renders one Greek word, see the comments on 1 Esdras 5.1. It refers to a person’s family or clan. The Greek word for lineage refers to one’s ancestry or descent. Good News Bible combines these two expressions, saying “were descended,” which other languages may find helpful.

Compare the parallel passages of Ezra 2.59-60 and Neh 7.61-62.

Good News Bible combines verses 36 and 37. Another model that does this is:

• There were 652 people descended from Delaiah, the son of Tobiah, and from Nekoda, who left the towns of Tel Melah and Tel Harsha and returned to Jerusalem with Cherub, Addan, and Immer as their leaders. These people were not able to prove that they were Jewish.

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.