Ezra 2:55; Nehemiah 7:57
Peruda—rendered as Perida in the parallel account of Nehemiah—stands in the scriptural record as a prominent patriarchal head among “the children of Solomon’s servants.” His identity is firmly established through the fierce, intergenerational loyalty of his descendants who returned to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel to restore the physical operations of the land.
The children of Solomon’s servants were a distinct, highly organized class of temple administrators and skilled craftsmen originally established by King Solomon during the construction of the first temple. When the Babylonian Empire destroyed Jerusalem and carried the nation into exile, Peruda’s household was uprooted. Decades later, when the decree was issued allowing a remnant to return, Peruda’s lineage stepped forward, refusing to remain in the comfort of Babylon.
The text details their inclusion in the official genealogical audit conducted by Ezra to establish true citizenship and structural order at the ruined temple site:
“The children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Peruda, The children of Jaalah, the children of Darkon, the children of Giddel,” (Ezra 2:55-56)
To be recorded in this precise ledger meant that Peruda’s descendants possessed the documented pedigree required to re-establish the defensive, economic, and logistical foundations of the capital. Operating alongside the priests and Nethinim, they took up their ancestral responsibilities under constant threat from surrounding pagan adversaries. Through their uncompromised dedication to the physical restoration of Zion, the house of Peruda stands as an enduring historical witness to the generational continuity and structural fidelity needed to rebuild the inheritance of the faithful.