Text: Nehemiah 7:64-65
OT Text Referred to: Ezra 2:62-63
Subject: Priests excluded for lack of genealogical proof
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Both Ezra 2:62-63 and Nehemiah 7:64-65 record the identical incident: certain priestly families "searched for their genealogical records but could not find them, so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean" (וַיְגֹאֲלוּ מִן־הַכְּהֻנָּה, vayego'alu min-hakkehunnah). The governor forbade them from eating the most holy food "until a priest stood with Urim and Thummim" (אוּרִים וְתֻמִּים). This parallel preservation in both books underscores the post-exilic community's strict insistence on verified priestly genealogy for cultic service, while also acknowledging the absence of the Urim and Thummim as a marker of the second temple's diminished status compared to the first.