Joab
Joab was the ancestor of a family that returned to Judah from Babylonian exile (Ezr.2.6; Neh.7.11).
Biography
Joab appears in the post-exilic census lists as the ancestor of one of the largest family groups that returned to Judah following the Babylonian exile, with 2,812 members listed in Ezra 2:6 and 2,818 in Nehemiah 7:11, a slight discrepancy likely reflecting different census dates or minor copyist variation. This family returned in the first wave under Zerubbabel and Jeshua following Cyrus's decree of 538 BC. The sheer size of his family, among the largest in the entire return census, suggests that Joab was a significant ancestral figure whose descendants had maintained remarkable communal cohesion and genealogical memory throughout the decades of Babylonian captivity far from their homeland.
Significance
The large number of returnees bearing Joab's family name demonstrates the extraordinary preservation of genealogical identity through the trauma of exile. That thousands could trace their lineage to a single ancestral figure affirms the Israelite commitment to remembering family origins as a core component of covenant identity. This Joab's descendants participated in the critical work of repopulating the promised land, rebuilding the temple, and reconstituting the covenant community. Their numbers speak to the faithfulness of ordinary families who, across generations of displacement, kept alive their connection to the land and promises of the God of Israel.
Verse Appearances (2)
Ezra
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]