Nehemiah 5:1-13

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. ¹  5:2 There were those who said, “With our sons and daughters, we are many. We must obtain ²  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 ³  on our fields and our vineyards. 5:5 And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, ⁴  and our children are just like their children, ⁵  still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. ⁶  Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, ⁷  since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.” ⁸ 

5:6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. ⁹  5:7 I considered these things carefully ¹⁰  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ¹¹  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ¹²  from your own countrymen!” ¹³  Because of them I called for ¹⁴  a great public assembly. 5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ¹⁵  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ¹⁶  so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

5:9 Then I ¹⁷  said, “The thing that you are doing is wrong! ¹⁸  Should you not conduct yourselves ¹⁹  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 ²⁰  and my associates ²¹  are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral! ²²  5:11 This very day return to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive trees, and their houses, along with the interest ²³  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, ²⁴  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 ²⁵  swear to do what had been promised. ²⁶  5:13 I also shook out my garment, ²⁷  and I said, “In this way may God shake out from his house and his property every person who does not carry out ²⁸  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. ²⁹ 

Deuteronomy 15:1-3

Release for Debt Slaves

15:1 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation ³⁰  of debts. 15:2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; ³¹  he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, ³²  for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.” 15:3 You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite ³³  owes you, you must remit.

Deuteronomy 15:7-9

The Spirit of Liberality

15:7 If a fellow Israelite ³⁴  from one of your villages ³⁵  in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive ³⁶  to his impoverished condition. ³⁷  15:8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend ³⁸  him whatever he needs. ³⁹  15:9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude ⁴⁰  be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite ⁴¹  and you do not lend ⁴²  him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. ⁴³ 

Matthew 6:12

6:12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves ⁴⁴  have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 18:27-35

18:27 The lord had compassion on that slave and released him, and forgave him the debt. 18:28 After ⁴⁵  he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins. ⁴⁶  So ⁴⁷  he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, ⁴⁸  saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ ⁴⁹  18:29 Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ⁵⁰  ‘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. 18:31 When ⁵¹  his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place. 18:32 Then his lord called the first slave ⁵²  and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me! 18:33 Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ 18:34 And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him ⁵³  until he repaid all he owed. 18:35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your ⁵⁴  brother ⁵⁵  from your heart.”

James 2:13

2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over ⁵⁶  judgment.

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

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

[5:4]  ³ tn Heb “for the tax of the king.”

[5:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “according to the flesh of our brothers is our flesh.”

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

[5:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “to become slaves” (also later in this verse).

[5:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “there is not power for our hand.” The Hebrew expression used here is rather difficult.

[5:5]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “words.”

[5:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”

[5:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “nobles.”

[5:7]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[5:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I gave.”

[5:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

[5:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your brothers.”

[5:9]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[should you not] walk.”

[5:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “brothers.”

[5:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “lads.”

[5:10]  ²² tn Heb “this debt.” This expression is a metonymy of association: “debt” refers to the seizure of the collateral of the debt.

[5:11]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn The words “these things” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn Heb “according to this word.”

[5:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “my bosom.”

[5:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “cause to stand.”

[5:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “according to this word.”

[15:1]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּת (shÿmittat), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the cancellation of the debt and even pledges for the debt of a borrower by his creditor. This could be a full and final remission or, more likely, one for the seventh year only. See R. Wakely, NIDOTTE 4:155-60. Here the words “of debts” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Cf. NAB “a relaxation of debts”; NASB, NRSV “a remission of debts.”

[15:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.

[15:2]  ³² tn Heb “his neighbor and his brother.” The words “his brother” may be a scribal gloss identifying “his neighbor” (on this idiom, see the preceding note) as a fellow Israelite (cf. v. 3). In this case the conjunction before “his brother” does not introduce a second category, but rather has the force of “that is.”

[15:3]  ³³ tn Heb “your brother.”

[15:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.

[15:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “gates.”

[15:7]  ³⁶ tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).

[15:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “from your needy brother.”

[15:8]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before both verbs. The translation indicates the emphasis with the words “be sure to” and “generously,” respectively.

[15:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “your eye.”

[15:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “your needy brother.”

[15:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).

[15:9]  ⁴³ tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”

[6:12]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:28]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ 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]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “and he grabbed him and started choking him.”

[18:28]  ⁴⁹ 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]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[18:31]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “Therefore when.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

[18:32]  ⁵² tn Grk “him”; the referent (the first slave mentioned in v. 24) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:34]  ⁵³ tn Grk “handed him over to the torturers,” referring specifically to guards whose job was to torture prisoners who were being questioned. According to L&N 37.126, it is difficult to know for certain in this instance whether the term actually envisions torture as a part of the punishment or is simply a hyperbole. However, in light of the following verse and Jesus’ other warning statements in Matthew about “fiery hell,” “the outer darkness,” etc., it is best not to dismiss this as mere imagery.

[18:35]  ⁵⁴ 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]  ⁵⁵ 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.

[2:13]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.