9:2 their possessions. The account emphasizes that the returnees took possession of land that was rightfully theirs.

Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants. The lists that follow (9:4–34) cover each of these categories except the temple servants, who may have been descendants of the Gibeonites (Josh. 9:23) pressed into the mundane work required for maintaining the tabernacle (Ezra 8:20).