Ezra 2:61

61 and of the descendants of the cohanim: descendants of Havayah, descendants of Hakotz, and descendants of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gil'adi and was named after them.

Ezra 2:61 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 2:61

And of the children of the priests
Who could not make out their pedigree, for those that could are mentioned before:

the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of
Barzillai;
how the latter came by this name follows:

which took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was
called after their name;
this man married a woman that descended from the famous Barzillai the Gileadite, in the times of David; and the priesthood being in disuse, and mean and despicable, in Babylon, he chose to take the name of his wife's family, and pass for a descendant from that, and perhaps destroyed, or at least neglected, to take care of the genealogy of his own family.

Ezra 2:61 In-Context

59 The following went up from Tel-Melach, Tel-Harsha, K'ruv, Adan and Immer; but they could not state which fathers' clan they or their children belonged to, [so it was not clear] whether they were from Isra'el:

60 descendants of D'layah, descendants of Toviyah, and descendants of N'koda 652

61 and of the descendants of the cohanim: descendants of Havayah, descendants of Hakotz, and descendants of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gil'adi and was named after them.

62 These tried to locate their genealogical records, but they weren't found. Therefore they were considered defiled and were not allowed to serve as cohanim.

63 The Tirshata told them not to eat any of the especially holy food until a cohen appeared who could consult the urim and tumim.