Exodus 22:26-27

22:26 If you do take ¹  the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down, ²  22:27 for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body. ³  What else can he sleep in? ⁴  And ⁵  when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

Nehemiah 5:1-19

Nehemiah Intervenes on behalf of the Oppressed

5:1 Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. ⁶  5:2 There were those who said, “With our sons and daughters, we are many. We must obtain ⁷  grain in order to eat and stay alive.” 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 ⁸  on our fields and our vineyards. 5:5 And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, ⁹  and our children are just like their children, ¹⁰  still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. ¹¹  Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, ¹²  since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.” ¹³ 

5:6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. ¹⁴  5:7 I considered these things carefully ¹⁵  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ¹⁶  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ¹⁷  from your own countrymen!” ¹⁸  Because of them I called for ¹⁹  a great public assembly. 5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ²⁰  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ²¹  so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

5:9 Then I ²²  said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! ²³  Should you not conduct yourselves ²⁴  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 ²⁵  and my associates ²⁶  are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral! ²⁷  5:11 This very day return to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive trees, and their houses, along with the interest ²⁸  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, ²⁹  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 ³⁰  swear to do what had been promised. ³¹  5:13 I also shook out my garment, ³²  and I said, “In this way may God shake out from his house and his property every person who does not carry out ³³  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. ³⁴ 

5:14 From the day that I was appointed ³⁵  governor ³⁶  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 ³⁷  ate the food allotted to the governor. ³⁸  5:15 But the former governors who preceded me had burdened the people and had taken food and wine from them, in addition to ³⁹  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 ⁴⁰  a field. All my associates were gathered there for the work.

5:17 There were 150 Jews and officials who dined with me routinely, ⁴¹  in addition to those who came to us from the nations ⁴²  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.

Matthew 6:12

6:12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves ⁴³  have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 18:27-30

18:27 The lord had compassion on that slave and released him, and forgave him the debt. 18:28 After ⁴⁴  he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins. ⁴⁵  So ⁴⁶  he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, ⁴⁷  saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ ⁴⁸  18:29 Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ⁴⁹  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ 18:30 But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt.

Matthew 18:35

18:35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your ⁵⁰  brother ⁵¹  from your heart.”

[22:26]  ¹ tn The construction again uses the infinitive absolute with the verb in the conditional clause to stress the condition.

[22:26]  ² tn The clause uses the preposition, the infinitive construct, and the noun that is the subjective genitive – “at the going in of the sun.”

[22:27]  ³ tn Heb “his skin.”

[22:27]  ⁴ tn Literally the text reads, “In what can he lie down?” The cloak would be used for a covering at night to use when sleeping. The garment, then, was the property that could not be taken and not given back – it was the last possession. The modern idiom of “the shirt off his back” gets at the point being made here.

[22:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “and it will be.”

[5:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “their brothers the Jews.”

[5:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “take” (so also in v. 3).

[5:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “for the tax of the king.”

[5:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to the flesh of our brothers is our flesh.”

[5:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “like their children, our children.”

[5:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to become slaves” (also later in this verse).

[5:5]  ¹² tn Heb “there is not power for our hand.” The Hebrew expression used here is rather difficult.

[5:5]  ¹³ sn The poor among the returned exiles were being exploited by their rich countrymen. Moneylenders were loaning large amounts of money, and not only collecting interest on loans which was illegal (Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19-20), but also seizing pledges as collateral (Neh 5:3) which was allowed (Deut 24:10). When the debtors missed a payment, the moneylenders would seize their collateral: their fields, vineyards and homes. With no other means of income, the debtors were forced to sell their children into slavery, a common practice at this time (Neh 5:5). Nehemiah himself was one of the moneylenders (Neh 5:10), but he insisted that seizure of collateral from fellow Jewish countrymen was ethically wrong (Neh 5:9).

[5:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “words.”

[5:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”

[5:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “nobles.”

[5:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “taking a creditor’s debt.” The Hebrew noun מַשָּׁא (masha’) means “interest; debt” and probably refers to the collateral (pledge) collected by a creditor (HALOT 641-42 s.v.). This particular noun form appears only in Nehemiah (5:7, 10; 10:32); however, it is related to מַשָּׁאָה (masha’ah, “contractual loan; debt; collateral”) which appears elsewhere (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; cf. Neh 5:11). See the note on the word “people” at the end of v. 5. The BHS editors suggest emending the MT to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”), following several medieval Hebrew MSS; however, the result is not entirely clear: “you are bearing a burden, a man with his brothers.”

[5:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[5:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I gave.”

[5:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

[5:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “your brothers.”

[5:9]  ²² 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”).

[5:9]  ²³ 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.

[5:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”

[5:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “brothers.”

[5:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “lads.”

[5:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “this debt.” This expression is a metonymy of association: “debt” refers to the seizure of the collateral of the debt.

[5:11]  ²⁸ tc The MT reads וּמְאַת (umÿ’at, “and the hundredth”) which is somewhat enigmatic. The BHS editors suggest emending to וּמַשַּׁאת (umasha’t, “and the debt”) which refers to the interest or collateral (pledge) seized by a creditor (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; see HALOT 641-42 s.v. מַשָּׁא). The term מַשַּׁאת (masha’t) is related to the noun מָשָּׁא (masha’, “debt”) in 5:7, 10.

[5:12]  ²⁹ tn The words “these things” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ³⁰ tn Heb “took an oath from them”; the referents (the wealthy and the officials, cf. v. 7) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ³¹ tn Heb “according to this word.”

[5:13]  ³² tn Heb “my bosom.”

[5:13]  ³³ tn Heb “cause to stand.”

[5:13]  ³⁴ tn Heb “according to this word.”

[5:14]  ³⁵ tc The BHS editors suggest reading צֻוֵּאתִי (tsuvve’ti, “and I was appointed”) rather than the reading of the MT, אֹתִי צִוָּה (tsivvah ’oti, “he appointed me”).

[5:14]  ³⁶ tc The translation reads with one medieval Hebrew MS פֶּחָה (pekhah, “governor”) rather than פֶּחָם (pekham, “their governor”) of the MT. One would expect the form with pronominal suffix to have a tav (ת) before the suffix.

[5:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “brothers.”

[5:14]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the food of the governor.” Cf. v. 18.

[5:15]  ³⁹ tc The Hebrew term אַחַר (’akhar) is difficult here. It normally means “after,” but that makes no sense here. Some scholars emend it to אַחַד (’akhad) and supply the word “day,” which yields the sense “daily.” Cf. TEV “40 silver coins a day for food and wine.”

[5:16]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “we did not purchase.”

[5:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “who were gathered around us at my table.”

[5:17]  ⁴² tn Or “from the Gentiles.” The same Hebrew word can refer to “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” Cf. the phrase in 6:16.

[6:12]  ⁴³ tn Or “as even we.” The phrase ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς (Jw" kai Jhmei") makes ἡμεῖς emphatic. The translation above adds an appropriate emphasis to the passage.

[18:28]  ⁴⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:28]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “one hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be about three month’s pay.

[18:28]  ⁴⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so.” A new sentence was started at this point in the translation in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[18:28]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “and he grabbed him and started choking him.”

[18:28]  ⁴⁸ tn The word “me” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[18:29]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[18:35]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “his.” The pronoun has been translated to follow English idiom (the last pronoun of the verse [“from your heart”] is second person plural in the original).

[18:35]  ⁵¹ tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a), whether male or female. Concerning the familial connotations, see also the note on the first occurrence of this term in v. 15.