Ezra 2:64

The whole congregation. The sum total of all the figures given in the preceding verses is 29,818, while the total number of returning exiles is given as 42,360. It is thus evident that besides the men enumerated in detail another 12,542 must have followed. Since the number 12,542 is too large for the three families of priests whose numbers were not given, the suggestion that they were women must be considered a possible solution to the problem. Their relatively small number — in comparison with the number of returning men — can be explained by assuming that many men left their families with relatives in Babylonia until homes could be provided for them in Palestine. Presumably, the women were then to follow their husbands in a later caravan as soon as the situation in Palestine should make the trip advisable. Since, in the following verses, maidservants as well as menservants are counted, and female singers as well as their male colleagues, it seems certain that the wives of free citizens were not omitted from the count. Hence, we are to understand the 42,360 individuals listed as the total number of all returning citizens, men, women, and ecclesiastical personnel.