Hanani travelled with a group of men whose identity is not revealed other than that they also came from Judah.
The term Judah
is a reference to a portion of the Persian province Beyond the River
(Ezra 8:36; Nehemiah 2:7, Nehemiah 2:9; Nehemiah 3:7). Archaeological evidence suggests that the Judah
part of this province was geographically relatively small. It was surrounded by unfriendly peoples living in the same broad jurisdiction of Beyond the River
; for example, Samaria to the north, governed by Sanballat; Ammon-Gilead to the east, governed by Tobiah; Arabia-Idumea to the south, governed by Geshem. It is not known how much independence each district had in relation to the administrators of Beyond the River,
though clearly there was some.
2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.