Number of descendants of Zattu who returned from exile in Babylon (Ezra 2:8)
The number 945 appears in Ezra 2:8, where it indicates the number of descendants of Zattu who returned to Judah after the Babylonian exile. The Zattu clan was one of many families that returned during the great homecoming documented in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Although the number itself is not assigned any prominent symbolic or theological significance in classical Jewish tradition or gematria, it testifies to the precise record-keeping of returning exiled families—a feature that underscores the importance of genealogical continuity and the people's identity in the post-exilic period. In the parallel list in Nehemiah 7:13, Zattu's descendants are given as 845, that is, 100 fewer than in Ezra 2:8. Such discrepancies between the two lists are common and may be due to different times of registration, copying errors, or different criteria for who was counted. The genealogical lists in Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 served as a form of legitimization for the returning families and their right to land, temple participation, and citizenship in the rebuilt Judah.*