Adin
Adin was one of the Jewish exiles who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel after the Babylonian captivity, as recorded in the lists of returnees in Ezra and Nehemiah.
Biography
Adin was the head of a family clan of Jewish exiles who returned to the land of Judah following the edict of Cyrus the Great in 538 BC. The book of Ezra records 454 descendants of Adin among the first great wave of returnees who came back under Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Ezra 2:15), while Nehemiah's parallel list records 655 (Nehemiah 7:20), reflecting either different census moments or varying manuscript traditions. Later, during the mission of Ezra himself, an additional contingent of 51 male descendants of Adin returned to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:6), led by Ebed son of Jonathan. The clan of Adin thus participated in both the initial restoration under Zerubbabel and the later wave of return under Ezra, spanning multiple generations of the post-exilic movement.
Significance
The clan of Adin represents the larger phenomenon of joyful return that fulfilled God's promises through Jeremiah and Isaiah about restoring Israel from captivity (Jeremiah 29:10–14; Isaiah 43:5–7). Their participation in the return across multiple generations demonstrates the sustained commitment of post-exilic families to the covenant land and the worship community in Jerusalem. The different counts of the Adin clan in Ezra and Nehemiah remind scholars that these genealogies served living, functional purposes, establishing identity, land rights, and community standing in the rebuilt Jewish community. Adin's descendants embody the biblical theme of return from exile as both historical event and theological symbol of God's restorative grace.
Verse Appearances (3)
Nehemiah
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]