דברי הימים א, פרק ג׳, פסוק כ״ד

The royal genealogy reaches its conclusion by tracing the families who lived after the return to Zion and the construction of the Second Temple. The record names the seven sons of Elioenai, ending with his youngest, Anani.

The inclusion of these late generations, who lived well after the time of Zerubbabel, sparks a significant historical and chronological discussion [מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Because there is a long line of descendants between Zerubbabel and Anani, some later critics argued that the original leaders, Ezra and Nehemiah, could not possibly have finalized this record. They assumed that a standard generation spans thirty years. Under that assumption, the timeline from Zerubbabel to the end of the list would stretch over two hundred years, leading them to claim that a much later scribe must have added these names [מלבי״ם].

However, this theory falls apart when considering the actual age at which people had children, rather than relying on an arbitrary thirty-year rule. If the exiled king Jeconiah and his descendants started their families at a young age, around thirteen to fifteen years old, the timeline becomes entirely realistic. Within the one hundred and eighteen years that passed from Jeconiah's exile until the days of Nehemiah, eight to ten generations could easily have been born. Based on this calculation, the history aligns perfectly. Nehemiah could certainly have lived long enough to personally see Anani, the final generation mentioned in the royal line, which confirms the accuracy of the record and proves it was completed during its original era [מלבי״ם].