The number of descendants of Adin in the census recorded in Nehemiah 7:20
The number 655 appears in the Bible in Nehemiah 7:20, where it indicates the number of descendants of Adin who returned from the Babylonian exile. This census, conducted during the rebuilding of Jerusalem, mapped out the returning families and their sizes. In the parallel list in Ezra 2:15, Adin's descendants are given as 454, which may reflect different counting times or that more members of the family joined the returnees in the meantime. Beyond this specific occurrence, the number 655 has no well-established symbolic meaning in classical Jewish numerology or theological tradition. The name Adin (עָדִין) means 'delicate' or 'refined' in Hebrew. Adin is also mentioned among those who sealed the covenant with God in Nehemiah 10:17. The difference between 454 (Ezra 2:15) and 655 (Nehemiah 7:20) is 201. Such discrepancies between the lists in Ezra and Nehemiah are well known and have been discussed by biblical scholars. Possible explanations include copying errors, different times of counting, or that the list in Nehemiah includes people who joined the group after the initial return.*