Ezra - Chapter 2
In this chapter we read about the people who returned to Jerusalem and Judah from th3 captivity in Babylon. Details are given of their families, to show that they are entitled to carry out their various duties in God's service. However, we then read:
"59 The following came up from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer, but they could not show that their families were descended from Israel: The descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah and Nekoda 652. And from among the priests: The descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai (a man who had married a daughter of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that name).
These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean."
Until they could establish their place within the family tree, they could not act as priests.
This reinforces the importance placed on Jesus' genealogies, which establish his claim to the throne of David.
In this chapter, we also see that God had protected the family line of David through the exile, and we read in verse 2 of the return of Zerubbabel, who appears in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1.