From the lists of priests, we see that 4,289 priests came back from the exile. This is around 10% of all the people that returned. Lots of priests were needed since the main purpose of the returning exiles was to re-establish worship at the temple.1 No doubt the priests were eager to once again serve in the temple since they were unable to do so during the exile. They had the most to gain from the return.2
36 The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973.