Albert Barnes Commentary Ezra 2:1

"Now these are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and that returned unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city;" — Ezra 2:1 (ASV)

The province - Judaea was no longer a kingdom, but a mere “province” of Persia. The children of the province are the Israelites who returned to Palestine, as distinct from those who remained in Babylonia and Persia.

Every one unto his city - That is, to the city to which his forefathers had belonged. Of course, in the few cases where this was not known (Ezra 2:59–62), the plan could not be carried out.

Two other copies of the following list have come down to us—one in (Nehemiah 7:7–69), and the other in . All seem to have been taken from the same original document, and to have suffered more or less from corruption. Where two out of the three agree, the reading should prevail over that of the third.