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Texts -- Nehemiah 5:3-19 (NET)

Context
5:3 There were others who said , “We are putting up our fields , our vineyards , and our houses as collateral in order to obtain grain during the famine .” 5:4 Then there were those who said , “We have borrowed money to pay our taxes to the king on our fields and our vineyards . 5:5 And now , though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen , and our children are just like their children , still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery . Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery , while we are powerless to help , since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people .” 5:6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints . 5:7 I considered these things carefully and then registered a complaint with the wealthy and the officials . I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral from your own countrymen !” Because of them I called for a great public assembly . 5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews who had been sold to the Gentiles . But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen , so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent , and could find nothing to say . 5:9 Then I said , “The thing that you are doing is wrong ! Should you not conduct yourselves in the fear of our God in order to avoid the reproach of the Gentiles who are our enemies ? 5:10 Even I and my relatives and my associates are lending them money and grain . But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral ! 5:11 This very day return to them their fields , their vineyards , their olive trees , and their houses , along with the interest that you are exacting from them on the money , the grain , the new wine , and the olive oil .” 5:12 They replied , “We will return these things, and we will no longer demand anything from them. We will do just as you say .” Then I called the priests and made the wealthy and the officials swear to do what had been promised. 5:13 I also shook out my garment , and I said , “In this way may God shake out from his house and his property every person who does not carry out this matter . In this way may he be shaken out and emptied !” All the assembly replied , “So be it !” and they praised the LORD . Then the people did as they had promised . 5:14 From the day that I was appointed governor in the land of Judah , that is, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes – twelve years in all– neither I nor my relatives ate the food allotted to the governor . 5:15 But the former governors who preceded me had burdened the people and had taken food and wine from them, in addition to forty shekels of silver . Their associates were also domineering over the people . But I did not behave in this way , due to my fear of God . 5:16 I gave myself to the work on this wall , without even purchasing a field . All my associates were gathered there for the work . 5:17 There were 150 Jews and officials who dined with me routinely , in addition to those who came to us from the nations all around us. 5:18 Every day one ox , six select sheep , and some birds were prepared for me, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance . Despite all this I did not require the food allotted to the governor , for the work was demanding on this people . 5:19 Please remember me for good , O my God , for all that I have done for this people .

Pericope

NET
  • Neh 5:1-19 -- Nehemiah Intervenes on behalf of the Oppressed

Bible Dictionary

  • Israel

    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • Jerusalem

    [nave] JERUSALEM Called Jebus, Josh. 18:28; Judg. 19:10; Zion, 1 Kin. 8:1; Zech. 9:13; City of David, 2 Sam. 5:7; Isa. 22:9; Salem, Gen. 14:18; Psa. 76:2; Ariel, Isa. 29:1; City of God, Psa. 46:4; City of the Great King, Psa. 48:2;...

  • Influence

    [nave] INFLUENCE. Evil 1 Kin. 11:3, 4; 1 Kin. 15:25, 26; 1 Kin. 21:25; 1 Kin. 22:51-53; 2 Kin. 8:16-18, 25-27; 2 Kin. 17:21, 22; 2 Kin. 21:9; 2 Chr. 21:5, 6; 2 Chr. 22:3-5; 2 Chr. 33:9; Prov. 22:24, 25; Prov. 29:12; Jer. 17:1, 2;...

  • Decision

    [nave] DECISION. Deut. 30:19; Josh. 23:8. Josh. 24:15; 1 Sam. 12:20; 1 Kin. 18:21; Psa. 37:34; Psa. 69:13; Prov. 4:25-27; Isa. 50:7; Matt. 24:13 Mark 13:13; Matt. 10:22. Matt. 25:23; Luke 7:23 Matt. 11:6. John 8:31; John 15:4, 5, ...

  • Country

    [nave] COUNTRY. Love of Judg. 5:1-31; 2 Sam. 10:12; Neh. 1:1-11; Neh. 2:1-20 chapters 3-6.Neh. 5:1-18; Psa. 137:1-6 The Jews held church and country as one, therefore See: Church, Love for. See also Patriotism.

  • Rulers

    [nave] RULERS Appointed and removed by God. See: Government, God in. Chastised, Dan. 4. See: Nation. Monarchical, See: Kings. Patriarchal, Gen. 27:29, 37. Instances of Nimrod, Gen. 10:8-10. Abraham, Gen. 14:13-24; 17:6; 21:2...

  • Nehemiah

    [nave] NEHEMIAH 1. Son of Hachaliah, Neh. 1:1. Cupbearer of Artaxerxes, Neh. 1:11; 2:1. Is grieved over the desolation of his country, Neh. 1. Is sent by the king to rebuild Jerusalem, Neh. 2:1-8. Register of the people whom he...

  • Jubilee

    [ebd] a joyful shout or clangour of trumpets, the name of the great semi-centennial festival of the Hebrews. It lasted for a year. During this year the land was to be fallow, and the Israelites were only permitted to gather the sp...

  • Zeal

    [nave] ZEAL, Religious Josh. 24:15, 16; 2 Sam. 24:24, 25; 1 Kin. 9:4; 1 Kin. 15:14; 1 Chr. 29:17; 2 Chr. 15:15; 2 Chr. 19:3; Ezra 7:23; Job 16:19; Psa. 42:1, 2; Psa. 60:4; Psa. 96:2, 3, 10; Psa. 119:139; Prov. 11:30; Eccl. 9:10; ...

  • Usury

    [ebd] the sum paid for the use of money, hence interest; not, as in the modern sense, exorbitant interest. The Jews were forbidden to exact usury (Lev. 25:36, 37), only, however, in their dealings with each other (Deut. 23:19, 20)...
    [isbe] USURY - u'-zhu-ri: 1. In the Old Testament: The Hebrew law concerning exaction of interest upon loans was very humane. Hebrews were to lend to their brethren without interest (Ex 22:25; Lev 25:36 f; Dt 23:19 f). This, howeve...
    [nave] USURY, interest, not necessarily unreasonable exaction, but all income from loans. Forbidden, Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:35-37; Deut. 23:19; Psa. 15:5; Prov. 28:8; Jer. 15:10; Ezek. 18:8, 13, 17; 22:12. Exaction of, rebuked, Neh. 5:...

  • MALACHI

    [isbe] MALACHI - mal'-a-ki: 1. Name of the Prophet 2. The Prophet's Times 3. Contents 4. Style 5. Message LITERATURE 1. Name of the Prophet: The last book of the Old Testament. Nothing is known of the person of Malachi. Because his...

  • TAX; TAXING

    [isbe] TAX; TAXING - taks, taks'-ing: I. INTRODUCTION 1. General Considerations 2. Limits of the Discussion II. TAXES IN ISRAEL UNDER SELF-GOVERNMENT 1. In the Earliest Period 2. Under the Theocracy; in the Period of the Judges 3. ...

  • Interest

    [isbe] INTEREST - in'-ter-est (neshekh, mashsha'; tokos): The Hebrew word neshekh is from a root which means "to bite"; thus interest is "something bitten off." The other word, mashsa', means "lending on interest." The Greek term i...
    [nave] INTEREST Income from loaning money, usually called usury in the scriptures, but not generally signifying unlawful or unjust rates.Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:36, 37; Deut. 23:19, 20; Neh. 5:1-13; Psa. 15:5; Prov. 28:8; Isa. 24:2; Eze...

  • Example

    [nave] EXAMPLE, Bad, Admonitions Against Lev. 18:2, 3; Lev. 20:23; Deut. 18:9; 2 Chr. 30:7; Prov. 22:24, 25; Isa. 8:11; Jer. 16:12; Jer. 17:1, 2; Ezek. 20:18; Hos. 4:9, 15; Hos. 5:5; Zech. 1:4; Matt. 23:1-3; 1 Cor. 8:9-13; 1 Cor....

  • Kindness

    [nave] KINDNESS. Lev. 19:34; Deut. 22:1 vs. 2-4.; Psa. 112:5; Prov. 14:21; Prov. 19:22; Prov. 31:26; Isa. 11:13; Zech. 7:9, 10; Matt. 5:7, 42 Luke 6:30. Matt. 25:34-36; Luke 6:34, 35; Acts 20:35; Rom. 12:15; Rom. 15:1, 2, 5; 1 Cor...

  • Poor

    [nave] POOR Atonement money of, uniform with that of the rich, Ex. 30:15. Inexpensive offerings of the poor, Lev. 5:7; 12:8; 14:21, 22. See: Beneficence; Giving; Liberality; Orphans; Poverty; Widow. Also See: Rich; Riches. Uncl...

  • Repentance

    [nave] REPENTANCE Attributed to God, Gen. 6:6, 7; Ex. 32:14; Deut. 32:36; Judg. 2:18; 1 Sam. 15:11, 29, 35; 2 Sam. 24:16; 1 Chr. 21:15; Psa. 106:45; 110:4; 135:14; Jer. 15:6; 18:8, 10; 26:3; 42:10; Joel 2:13; Amos 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:9...

  • Borrowing

    [nave] BORROWING. Ex. 22:14, 15; Neh. 5:1-13; Psa. 37:21; Prov. 22:7; Matt. 5:42 See: Lending; Interest. Instances of Israelites from the Egyptians, Ex. 3:22; 11:2; 12:35. Borrowing trouble, See: Trouble, Borrowing.

  • Lending

    [nave] LENDING. Ex. 22:25-27; Lev. 25:35-37; Deut. 15:1-11; Deut. 23:19, 20; Deut. 24:6, 10-13, 17; Neh. 5:1-13; Psa. 37:25, 26; Psa. 112:5; Prov. 19:17; Prov. 22:7; Prov. 28:8; Isa. 24:1, 2; Ezek. 18:13; Matt. 5:42; Luke 6:34, 35...

  • Rich, The

    [nave] RICH, THE: Neh. 5:1-13; Job 21:7-15; Job 27:13-23; Job 31:24, 25, 28; Psa. 49:16-18; Psa. 52:1-7; Psa. 73:3-22; Prov. 14:20; Prov. 18:11, 23; Prov. 28:11; Eccl. 5:13, 14, 19, 20; Jer. 5:7-9, 27-29; Jer. 9:23; Jer. 17:11; Je...
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Hymns

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  • [Neh 5:9] Watched By The World’s Malignant Eye

Questions

  • The most radical reference to money lending is that of Christ himself (Luke 6:35), "Do good and lend, hoping for nothing again." But it must be remembered that the words were spoken to a people very differently situated from ...

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • The years of history the book covers are 445-431 B.C. or perhaps a few years after that.In 445 B.C. (the twentieth year of Artaxerxes' reign, 1:1) Nehemiah learned of the conditions in Jerusalem that led him to request permis...
  • For many years, believers regarded Ezra and Nehemiah as twin books. They called them 1 and 2 Ezra (or Esdras, the Greek transliteration of Ezra). Jerome, who lived in the fourth century A.D., gave 2 Ezra the name Nehemiah. Th...
  • I. The fortification of Jerusalem chs. 1-7A. The return under Nehemiah chs. 1-21. The news concerning Jerusalem 1:1-32. The response of Nehemiah 1:4-113. The request of Nehemiah 2:1-84. The return to Jerusalem 2:9-20B. The re...
  • Nehemiah prayed for four months about conditions in Jerusalem before he spoke to Artaxerxes about them (cf. 1:1; 2:1). Artaxerxes' reign began in the seventh Jewish month, Tishri (late September and early October), of 464 B.C...
  • This chapter evidently describes a situation that prevailed for more than the 52 days the wall was under construction (cf. v. 14). The writer probably included it in the text here because it was another situation that threate...
  • The builders finished the walls only 52 days after construction had begun (v. 15). "Elul"is late August and early September. Israel's enemies viewed their rapid progress as evidence that God had helped the workers (v. 16)."Th...
  • Because the people had failed to bring their tithes to the temple the Levites had to abandon their service in the temple to provide for their own physical needs. This failure may have resulted in rooms standing vacant for Tob...
  • 11:14-15 The Lord then replied that many of the Jews in Jerusalem were saying that the Judahites who had gone into captivity were the ones that God was judging. They believed that the Jews left in Jerusalem were the remnant t...
  • "Haggai and Zechariah . . . are noteworthy for the chronological precision with which they related their lives and ministries to their historical milieu. This is not the case at all with Malachi. In fact, one of the major pro...
  • These persecuted Christians did not need to fear their adversaries or death since they would live forever with Jesus Christ. "Behold"signals an oracular declaration (cf. 2:22; 3:8, 9, 20).96The devil would incite their foes t...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

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