Nehemiah 5:8-10

5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ¹  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ²  so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

5:9 Then I ³  said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! ⁴  Should you not conduct yourselves ⁵  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 ⁶  and my associates ⁷  are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral! ⁸ 

¹ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

² tn Heb “your brothers.”

³ tc The translation reads with the Qere and the ancient versions וָאוֹמַר (va’omar, “and I said”) rather than the MT Kethib, וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyo’mer, “and he said”).

⁴ tn Heb “not good.” The statement “The thing…is not good” is an example of tapeinosis, a figurative expression which emphasizes the intended point (“The thing…is wrong!”) by negating its opposite.

⁵ tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”

⁵ tn Heb “brothers.”

⁶ tn Heb “lads.”

⁷ tn Heb “this debt.” This expression is a metonymy of association: “debt” refers to the seizure of the collateral of the debt.