Chapter 5

1 The Jews complain of their debt, mortgage, and bondage. 6 Nehemiah rebuketh the usurers, and causeth them to make a covenant of restitution. 14 He forbeareth his own allowance, and keepeth hospitality.

1. A great cry. It is uncertain when some of the events described in this chapter took place. Not all of them can have occurred during the building of the wall, since v. 14 carries the record to the close of Nehemiah’s 12 years as governor. At ost only vs. 1–13 can be assigned to the time of building the wall. It is true that labor on the wall without pay would take many away from their ordinary means of livelihood. On the other hand, the work was completed in too short a time to occasion serious economic distress, especially of the kind here described. There is no hint in the narrative that the distress was connected with the work of reconstruction. The grievances lay much deeper, and had been developing over a long period of time, but came to a crisis during the building of the wall (see PK 646). In vs. 14–19 Nehemiah gives an account of his personal conduct while in office as governor of Judea (see 1 Sam. 12:3–5).

The cry was one of dire distress. The plaintiffs were the poor among the people, and the defendants their more well-to-do brethren (see 2 Kings 24:14).

2. Many. Those who had large families were foremost in making complaint. Their numerous offspring proved not to be the blessing they were usually considered by Orientals, but a burden and the cause of deep perplexity to them.

3. That we might buy corn. Perhaps, with the LXX, “therefore give us corn [grain],” not that they desired an outright gift, but an adjustment of the economic situation that occasioned their plight.

Because of the dearth. Some claimed relief because of a famine, now past, which had compelled them to mortgage their fields, vineyards, and houses. The plaintiffs therefore belonged to a class that once possessed considerable property, and who lived outside the city. The situation resembles that described in Isa. 5:8. The gathering of the land into the hands of the rich was not a new situation.

4. The king’s tribute. Like other Persian provinces, Judea was annually required to pay a tribute, partly in money and partly in kind, to the Persian treasury. In ordinary years this burden may not have seemed oppressive, but in lean years the appearance of the tax collector often foreshadowed great misery. To meet the taxes debts had to be contracted, and without hope that they could be repaid.

5. Our flesh. These poor people were human beings, like their richer brethren, and stood in need of the necessities of life as much as they. Their own children were as dear to them as were children of the rich to their parents.

One class of people complained of families so large that it was impossible to provide them with food, another of having mortgaged their property because of famine, a third of having to resort to the moneylenders in order to pay their taxes, and a fourth of having fallen into the hands of usurious moneylenders. These people were suffering, not from the oppression of foreign tyrants, but from the exactions of their brethren.

Some of our daughters. On the legal right of fathers to sell their daughters see Ex. 21:7. Many of the returned exiles had escaped from Babylonian captivity only to find themselves in bondage to their brethren, and the latter state seemed more unbearable than the first. In Babylon the families remained united, but now children were taken from their parents to become the slaves of fellow Jews.

6. I was very angry. It seems that the letter of the law had not been violated, except in the matter of taking interest (v. 11), of which the people had not complained. That men might sell their daughters is apparent from Ex. 21:7. The servitude of menservants was limited to six years (see on Ex. 2:2), and if the year of jubilee began earlier than the end of the sixth year, they went free automatically (Lev. 25:10; see on Deut. 15:12). It was also permissible to “sell” (lease) land (Lev. 25:14–16), but not to dispose of it permanently (vs. 10, 13). However, the spirit if not the letter of the law was transgressed by the rich. In time of economic hardship it was their duty to assist their poorer brethren, not to oppress them (vs. 14, 17). Nehemiah, his near relatives, and his followers had done so to the extent of their ability (Neh. 5:10, 15). The rich, however, had made all the profit they could at the expense of their fellow countrymen. That Nehemiah, a man capable of great passion when his sense of right was aroused, could well be angry with these conscienceless and unscrupulous profiteers is easily understandable.

7. Ye exact usury. This was a violation of the law which forbade the taking of interest from Hebrews, but permitted taking it from foreigners (Deut. 23:19, 20; see on Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:35).

I set a great assembly. The rebuke of Nehemiah apparently had no effect. The nobles gave no assurance that they would change their conduct. He was therefore compelled to bring the matter before the people, not that legal power resided with them, but that the nobles might be ashamed or afraid to continue their oppression once it was openly denounced by the chief civil ruler.

8. We after our ability. The “we” may refer either to those who returned more recently in contrast to those who had returned earlier, or to Nehemiah and his relatives in contrast to the rich oppressors. The latter is probably intended. Nehemiah’s words imply that he and similarly minded men had purchased Jews held in servitude by foreigners, and had set them free. This he had done as his means permitted.

9. Also I said. Nehemiah rightly felt that it was not enough to silence the nobles, or to cause them to feel ashamed. It was necessary to persuade them to change their actions.

10. Might exact of them. Literally, “are lending them.” The law required the rich to lend to the poor (Deut. 15:7–11) without usury (see on Ex. 22:25). Nehemiah had complied with both of these provisions, and now called upon others to do likewise. To lend was a virtue; to exact usury was a vice by which the rich took advantage of the poor (see on Neh. 5:11).

11. Restore. Having denounced oppression and stated the principle involved, Nehemiah made a strong appeal for action. He called upon those holding the lands of their poorer brethren as security to restore these to their owners without delay (see PK 650).

The hundredth. The hundredth taken as interest is probably, like the centesima of the Romans in the time of Cicero, to be understood as a monthly payment. One per cent per month was not a high rate of interest, compared with that usually paid in the ancient Orient. In Babylonia and Assyria the usual rate was 20–25 per cent for silver and 331/3 per cent for grain. Texts of the 7th century b.c. from Gozan (Tell HalaЖf), in Mesopotamia, reveal an annual rate of interest of 50 per cent for silver and 100 per cent for grain in that locality. In Egypt, it was 12–24 per cent during the Ptolemaic period (last three centuries b.c.), from which alone we have records of this kind. Nevertheless, the poor of Judea must have groaned under the load of interest, even if a 12 per cent annual interest in Judea cannot be called exorbitant when compared with the rates in other countries.

12. We will restore. Nehemiah’s eloquent appeal, his reaffirmation of the principles of the Mosaic law, and his own worthy example carried the day. The nobles, one and all, agreed not only to remit interest already charged, to refrain from exacting further interest, and to lend to their poorer brethren in harmony with the law, but to restore the forfeited lands and houses, which must have been of considerable value, and which according to the letter of the law they were entitled to keep until the year of jubilee.

Took an oath. See on Ezra 10:5. When the required consent had been given, Nehemiah called the priests, and required the creditors to swear to adhere conscientiously to their agreement. Nehemiah secured the attendance of the priests, partly for the purpose of giving solemnity to the oath now taken, as being taken before the Lord, and partly to give the declaration legal validity for judicial action, should that prove necessary.

13. I shook my lap. The Hebrew word translated “lap” designates the lap of the garment, in which things were sometimes carried. The word is found only here, and as “arms” in Isa. 49:22. To emphasize the binding nature of the promise, Nehemiah performed a symbolical act. This consisted in his gathering up his garment as if for the purpose of carrying something in it, and then shaking it out—as he uttered the curse of v. 13. Among the nations of antiquity few things were so much dreaded as falling under a curse. The maledictions of Deut. 28:16–44 were similarly designed to impress those who might be tempted to violate the law. Curses inscribed over the entrances to the tombs of Assyrian and Persian kings were intended to frighten away would-be looters. Ancient treaties were similarly protected against violation. Nehemiah’s curse is unusual, but its purpose is clear.

14. I was appointed. Here for the first time Nehemiah clearly states that his authorization to return and rebuild the wall of Jerusalem was accompanied by appointment to the governorship of the province of Judea. It is possible that the appointment took place soon thereafter. His 12 years of governorship did not begin earlier than Nisan in the 20th year of Artaxerxes (ch. 2:1), that is, not before April 2, 444 b.c. It ended in the 32d regnal year of Artaxerxes, which according to Nehemiah’s calendar year (see p. 109) probably began Sept. 25, 433, and ended Oct. 13, 432b.c. During this year he was recalled to Artaxerxes’ court (ch. 13:6), and it was probably at this time that the account of ch. 5:14–19 was written, perhaps also vs. 1–13, and possibly other parts of the book.

The bread of the governor. During all his term of office he had not claimed the usual revenue a governor was entitled to receive from his subjects; he had paid his own personal expenses. By his “brethren” Nehemiah here refers to his entire court as well as his own family.

15. The former governors. Of these, only one, Zerubbabel, is known. It is not certain that Ezra had been appointed as governor or whether he served in the capacity of a special commissioner. Nehemiah probably refers to the several governors who had apparently ruled over Judea during the 50 or 60 years between Zerubbabel and the arrival of Ezra.

Were chargeable. The words of the original are stronger and should be rendered “had oppressed” or “had been heavy” upon the people. The RSV reads “laid heavy burdens” on the people.

Beside. Literally, “after.” The Vulgate reads “daily.” Most commentators follow this interpretation, and conclude that Nehemiah’s court expenses were 40 shekels a day (334.8 g., or 10.8 oz. troy, if light shekels), and not that 40 shekels a year had been exacted from each person.

Servants bare rule. The domestic servants and lower officials of an Oriental court usually took advantage of their position to exact high fees from those who came seeking official favor. This was especially so in ancient times, where eunuchs and other retainers were often fearful tyrants. Haman under Xerxes, Sejanus under Tiberius, and Narcissus under Claudius are classic examples of this practice.

16. I continued. Not only did Nehemiah refrain from oppressing the people; he lived at his own expense, and beyond that he and his personal servants (also supported at his own expense) labored tirelessly on the wall. The manner in which Nehemiah and his servants labored is set forth in ch. 4:10, 13, 15, 17.

Neither bought we any land. Nehemiah either means that he had not taken land for debt, as the nobles had (vs. 3, 11), or that he had acquired no property in any way during his governorship. Personally he was not richer, but poorer, as the result of 12 years in office. It meant personal sacrifice to him to bear these responsibilities.

17. Moreover. This was not all. Nehemiah not only had taken care of all his own expenses, but had shown the hospitality people expected of a governor, and had fed daily the 150 family heads of the people living in Jerusalem (see ch. 11:1). Besides these regular guests, Nehemiah also entertained at his table Jews who came to Jerusalem on business from the towns of Judea and from surrounding nations. Nehemiah must have been a man of considerable means in order to live in Jerusalem for 12 years in the manner here described. That some of the Jews living in Babylonia had become very wealthy is attested by the business documents of “Murashu Sons,” excavated at Nippur (see p. 65).

18. Fowls. Although chickens are never clearly mentioned in the OT, their existence in Palestine at this time is attested by the Jaazaniah seal found at Tell enРNasbeh in 1932, which shows a picture of a fighting cock. The earliest reference to chickens in Egypt dates from the time of Thutmose III in the 15th century, when they were introduced to the Nile country from Syria. Doves and geese may also have been included in the collective term “fowls.”

Bread of the governor. See on v. 14.

19. Think upon me, my God. Nehemiah closes with a prayer characteristically his own (see chs. 6:14; 13:22, 31).

Ellen G. White comments

1–19PK 646–652

1–4PK 646–647

5–7PK 648

8     PK 649

9–13PK 650