וַיָּבֹ֨א חֲנָ֜נִי אֶחָ֧ד מֵאַחַ֛י ה֥וּא וַאֲנָשִׁ֖ים מִֽיהוּדָ֑ה וָאֶשְׁאָלֵ֞ם עַל־הַיְּהוּדִ֧ים הַפְּלֵיטָ֛ה אֲשֶֽׁר־נִשְׁאֲר֥וּ מִן־הַשֶּׁ֖בִי וְעַל־יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃
Hanani, one of my brothers, together with some Judahites, arrived, and I asked them about the Jews, the remnant who had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem.
(The above rendering is the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation. Before accounting for this rendering, I will analyze the plain sense of the Hebrew term containing אִישׁ, by employing a situation-oriented construal as outlined in this introduction, pp. 11–16.)
The referring expression in question is אֲנָשִׁים מִֽיהוּדָה. That is, the subgroup in question is identified by the label אֲנָשִׁים plus the partitive preposition (מִן) and the name of a well-known larger group (יְהוּדָה). In such a construction, אֲנָשִׁים functions to signal that the referent is a definitive participant in the situation of interest. That is, this referent’s involvement is essential for grasping the depicted situation (Stein 2021, esp. pp. 11–13 and Table 9B in the supplement). This situating usage can be contrasted with the practice in Nehemiah when Judahite identity is likewise germane but the participant’s involvement is instead taken as a given: they are labeled as בְּנֵי יְהוּדָה (cf. 11:4, 25; 13:16).
As for rendering into English, the NJPS rendering “some men of Judah” is overly literal, and it overtranslates the gender aspect.
The revised rendering fulfills in standard fashion the function of introducing an unquantified subset of a known group—yet without specifying gender.