Nehemiahchapter 5
19 verses · KJVNehemiah book hub →
Key verse
Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.
It stands in scene A of the chapter, verses 1 to 5.
The chapter
Chapter summary
The threat turns inward. A great cry rises from the people against their own brethren: fields, vineyards, and houses mortgaged for grain and for the king's tribute, sons and daughters brought into bondage. Nehemiah is very angry, holds a great assembly, and confronts the nobles: 'Ye exact usury, every one of his brother… Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God?' They agree to restore the lands and the money, and he shakes out his lap as a sign against any who fails to perform it; the assembly says Amen and praises Jehovah. Then his own accounting: twelve years as governor without eating the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon the people.
Context
History · Nehemiah · Nehemiah overview
Where the chapter sits
Nehemiah 5 falls in Rebuilding the walls (chapters 1–7). Nehemiah's prayer; his commission from Artaxerxes; Jerusalem's walls in ruin; the wall built in fifty-two days amid external threats (Sanballat) and internal pressures (debt crisis); the dedication.
After it: Covenant renewal under Ezra's teaching, chapters 8–10.
The whole shape of Nehemiah→The world behind this chapter
Nehemiah 5The history
The complaint comes in three tiers, and each is an economic snapshot. Large families with no grain in a famine year. Families mortgaging fields, vineyards and houses to buy food. And families borrowing money specifically to pay the king's tribute against their land, Persian provincial taxation was assessed in silver and had to be paid whether the harvest came in or not.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
The end of that road was debt slavery, which the law allowed but hedged about with limits. Children were being sold into servitude, and some daughters already were, by creditors who were their own countrymen and nobles.
Nehemiah's remedy is a public restoration, return the fields, vineyards, oliveyards and houses, and the hundredth part of the money and grain, sworn before the priests, with a symbolic shaking-out of the lap as a curse on anyone who breaks it. He also states his own record as governor: for twelve years he did not take the governor's food allowance, though earlier governors had "laid burdens upon the people," and he fed a hundred and fifty men at his table daily out of his own resources.
What it meant to them
The rebuke lands where the workers could not have expected it. The wall was going up against enemies outside, and the community was being hollowed out by lenders inside.
His argument is reputational and covenantal at once: "ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?" A people who bought their brothers' children back from foreigners and then enslaved them themselves had no standing to talk about anything.
Sources cited
- Edwin Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible
- K. A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament
- Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament (public domain)
People1
A. A great cry: our children are as theirs, yet we sell them into bondage
1. (vv. 1-3)
Nehemiah 5:1, 1 voiceWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Nehemiah 5:1
“The condition of the poorer inhabitants was indeed deplorable; for, besides the deficient harvests caused by the great rains (Ezr 10:9; also Hag 1:6-11), a dearth was now threatened by the enemy keeping such a multitude pent up in the city, and preventing the country people bringing in provisions.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Nehemiah 5:2, 1 voice
Nehemiah 5:2
“We, our sons, and our daughters, are many - Our families are larger than we can provide for; we are obliged to go in debt; and our richer brethren take advantage of our necessitous situation, and oppress us. The details which are given in the next verse are sufficiently plain.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Nehemiah 5:3, 2 voices
Nehemiah 5:3
“Some also there were that said, we have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses,.... Made them over to others, put them into their hands as pledges for money received of them: that we may buy corn; for the support of their families: because of the dearth; or famine; which might be occasioned by their enemies lying in wait and intercepting all provisions that might be brought to them; for this seems not to be the famine spoken of in Hag 1:10 for that was some years before this, and for a reason which now was not.”
Nehemiah 5:3
“Because of the dearth - About the time of Zerubbabel, God had sent a judicial dearth upon the land, as we learn from Haggai, Hag 1:9, etc., for the people it seems were more intent on building houses for themselves than on rebuilding the house of the Lord: “Ye looked for much, and, lo, it is come to little; because of mine house that is waste; and ye run, every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
a.a great cry of the people: The complaint rises as one voice, poor Jews crying out against their own brethren rather than against Persia, because the crisis inside the wall has turned out worse than the enemy outside it. Some have too many mouths and no food left to feed them; others have already mortgaged field, vineyard and house for corn during a dearth the enemy's siege pressure has made worse. The reproach here is Jew oppressing Jew, in the very season Nehemiah has called the whole city to build together.
2. (vv. 4-5)
Nehemiah 5:4, 2 voices
Nehemiah 5:4
“There were also that said,.... Who though they were able to buy corn for their families without mortgaging their estates: yet, say they: we have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards; for though the priests, Levites, and Nethinims, were exempted from it, yet not the people in common; and some of these were so poor, that they could not pay it without borrowing upon their estates, and paying large usury for it, see Ezr 6:8.”
Nehemiah 5:4
“We have borrowed money - This should be read, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute on our lands and vineyards. They had a tax to pay to the Persian king in token of their subjection to him, and though it is not likely it was heavy, yet they were not able to pay it.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Nehemiah 5:5, 3 voices
Nehemiah 5:5
“The power of a father to sell his daughter into slavery is expressly mentioned in the Law Exo 21:7. The power to sell a son appears from this passage. In either case, the sale held good for only six years, or until the next year of jubilee (see the marginal references).”
Nehemiah 5:5
“Our flesh - We are of the same nature, and religion with them, though they treat us as if we were beasts or Heathens. Bondage - We are compelled to sell them for our subsistence. Daughters - Which was an evidence of their great necessity, because their daughters were more tender, and weak, and unfit for bond-service, and more exposed to injuries than their sons.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Nehemiah 5:5
“But let those who show no mercy expect judgment without mercy. It was an aggravation of the sin of these oppressing Jews that they were themselves so lately delivered out of the house of bondage, which obliged them in gratitude to undo the heavy burdens, Isa. lviii.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a.borrowed money for the king’s tribute: A third group has borrowed against their land simply to pay the king's tribute, a tax the whole province owed and none could refuse. Verse 5 makes the account personal: our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, yet sons and daughters are sold into bondage to make ends meet, some daughters already gone, with no power left to redeem them. Lender and borrower share one blood and one covenant, and that shared claim is the ground of the charge Nehemiah is about to bring.
B. Restore it to them this day, and the assembly answers Amen
1. (vv. 6-7)
Nehemiah 5:7, 2 voices
Nehemiah 5:7
“Ye exact usury - The phrase is unique to Nehemiah, and is best explained by the context, which shows the practice of the rich Jews at the time to have been not so much to lend on usury as to lend on mortgage and pledge.”
Nehemiah 5:7
“Ezra was a man of a mild tender spirit, and when told of the sin of the rulers, rent his clothes and wept: Nehemiah forced them to reform, being of a warm and eager spirit. So God's work may be done, and yet different methods taken in doing it; which is a good reason why we should not arraign the management of others, nor make our own standard.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
a.very angry when I heard: Nehemiah's anger is not impulsive: he hears the cry, and then he consults with himself before he rebukes the nobles and rulers, deliberation placed between the provocation and the act. He charges them plainly, ye exact usury every one of his brother, and answers a private wrong with a public remedy, a great assembly set against them. Wesley sets the moment beside Ezra's earlier response to a like sin, one leader reforming his people by tears and another by direct confrontation, both serving the same God by different tempers.
2. (vv. 8-9)
Nehemiah 5:8, 1 voice
Nehemiah 5:8
“Nehemiah contrasts his own example with that of the rich Jews. He had spent money in redeeming some countrymen in servitude among the pagan; they were causing others to be sold into slavery among the Jews.”
Nehemiah 5:9, 1 voice
Nehemiah 5:9
“Ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God - If ye wish to accredit that religion ye profess which comes from the God of justice and mercy; should you not, in the sight of the heathen, abstain from injustice and cruelty? Can they credit your profession, when they see such practices? The inconsistent conduct of some professors of religion does much harm in the Church of God.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
a.found nothing to answer: Nehemiah sets his own record against theirs: we after our ability have redeemed our brethren sold to the heathen, and will ye even sell your brethren, a charge his hearers cannot answer and do not try to answer. The argument turns from fairness to piety in verse 9: it is not good that ye do, and the standard he names is the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies. The watching nations outside the wall witness against usury inside it as surely as the law of Moses does, since a people who cheat one another hand their enemies a reason to mock.
3. (vv. 10-11)
Nehemiah 5:10, 1 voice
Nehemiah 5:10
“Brethren - In office; these who are employed with me in the government of this people. Servants - In my name, and for my use. Exact - As a just recompense for our pains and care for the publick good, to which we wholly devote ourselves, even to the neglect of all our private concerns.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Nehemiah 5:11, 3 voices
Nehemiah 5:11
“The hundredth part of the money ... - i. e. the interest. It is conjectured that the 100th part was payable monthly, or, in other words, that interest was taken at the rate of twelve per cent. The Law altogether disallowed the taking of interest from Israelites (see Exo 22:25; Lev 25:36, etc.).”
Nehemiah 5:11
“Also - Also require not: which is to be supplied out of the next verse, where it is expressed in their grant of this desire. Hundredth part - Which they required every month for the use of their monies or goods, according to the custom then used.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Nehemiah 5:11
“If men borrow large sums to trade with, to increase their stocks, or to purchase land, there is no reason why the lender should not share with the borrower in his profit; or if to spend upon their lusts, or repair what they have so spent, why should they not pay for their extravagances?”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a.let us leave off this usury: Nehemiah admits that he too might lawfully exact money and corn as governor, and gives up the right rather than merely condemning others who use it. He then calls for restitution that is immediate and total, restore even this day, land, vineyard, oliveyard and house, and the hundredth part of the money, corn, wine and oil already exacted. Naming his own claim first, and setting it aside, is the pattern the chapter carries through to his account of the governor's table later.
4. (vv. 12-13)
Nehemiah 5:12, 1 voice
Nehemiah 5:12
“He sent for the priests to give them their oath that they would perform this promise; now that their convictions were strong, and they seemed resolved, he would keep them to it. He bound them by a solemn curse or execration, hoping that would strike some awe upon them: So let God shake out every man that performeth not this promise,”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Nehemiah 5:13, 3 voices
Nehemiah 5:13
“I shook my lap - Compare the marginal references. By “lap” is meant a fold in the bosom of the dress, capable of serving as a pocket. Compare Isa 49:22 margin.”
Nehemiah 5:13
“My lap - The extreme parts of my garment, which I first folded together, and then shook it and scattered it asunder. This was a form of swearing then in use.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Nehemiah 5:13
“This cheerfulness in promising was well, but that which follows was better: They did according to this promise, and adhered to what they had done, not as their ancestors in a like case, who re-enslaved those whom a little before they had released, Jer. xxxiv. Good promises are good things, but good performances are all in all.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a.took an oath of them: The nobles agree in a single sentence, we will restore them and will require nothing of them, and Nehemiah does not trust the sentence alone: he calls the priests and takes an oath of them that they will keep the promise. He then acts out the curse with his own garment, shaking his lap and pronouncing that God so shake out every man from house and labour who breaks this word, and the whole congregation answers Amen and praises the Lord. A promise sworn before priests and sealed with a sign is followed by the plainest verse in the chapter, and the people did according to this promise.
C. Twelve years as governor without eating the governor's bread
1. (vv. 14-16)
Nehemiah 5:14, 2 voices
Nehemiah 5:14
“From the day on which he commanded me to be their leader, etc. Explaining this typologically, the Apostle says: "For the Lord has ordained that those who preach the Gospel should live by the Gospel; but I have used none of these things" (I Cor. …”
Bede· written before 735· Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiahpatristic
Nehemiah 5:14
“I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. - From what is related here, and in the following verse, we find that the table of the governor was always supplied by the people with bread and wine; and, besides, they had forty shekels per diem for their other expenses. The people were also greatly oppressed by the servants and officers of the governor; but, during the twelve years that Nehemiah had been with them, he took not this salary, and ate none of their bread.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Nehemiah 5:15, 2 voices
Nehemiah 5:15
“Forty shekels of silver - A daily sum from the entire province. For such a table as that kept by Nehemiah Neh 5:18, this would be a very moderate payment.”
Nehemiah 5:15
“Beside, &c. - Which they required of the people every day to defray their other expenses. Their servants - Ruled them with rigor and cruelty; which fault of the servants is charged upon their masters, because they did not restrain them. He had an awe of God's mercy, and a fear of offending him.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Nehemiah 5:16, 2 voices
Nehemiah 5:16
“Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall,.... Of building the wall of Jerusalem; here he gave his constant attendance to direct and encourage the workmen, and see that they kept to their work, and did it well: neither bought we any land; neither he nor the principal men with him, though they could have bought it cheap, but they chose not to take the advantage of the poverty of the people: and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work: all were employed in it, taking no wages for their work, being maintained at his expense.”
Nehemiah 5:16
“Say not then that he was a bad husband, but that he was a good governor, who aimed not to feather his own nest. Let us remember the words of the Lord, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive, Acts xx.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a.twelve years, I and my brethren: Nehemiah turns from the nobles' usury to his own twelve years in office, and states his own restraint plainly: I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor, though the office carried the right to it. Former governors took bread, wine and forty shekels of silver from the people daily, and let their own servants rule over them besides, but Nehemiah names none of them by name and sets his own conduct beside theirs instead, so did not I, because of the fear of God. He bought no land while the wall was building, and put his own servants to work on it rather than draw wages from the poor he was governing.
2. (vv. 17-18)
Nehemiah 5:17, 2 voices
Nehemiah 5:17
“A hundred and fifty of the Jews - He kept open house, entertained all comers; besides having one hundred and fifty Jews who had their food constantly at his table, and at his expense. To be able to bear all these expenses, no doubt Nehemiah had saved money while he was cup-bearer to the Persian king in Susa.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Nehemiah 5:17
“Rulers - Not only Jews of the inferior sort, for whom meaner provisions might suffice, but also their rulers, for whom better provision was fit; who resorted to him upon all occasions, to give him notice of the enemies designs; or to receive his orders.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Nehemiah 5:18, 2 voices
Nehemiah 5:18
“One ox, and six choice sheep - This was food sufficient for more than two hundred men. Once in ten days store of all sorts of wine - It is supposed that every tenth day they drank wine; at all other times they drank water; unless we suppose the meaning of the phrase to be, that his servants laid in a stock of wine every ten days. Though the Asiatics drank sparingly of wine, yet it is not very likely that, in a case such as that above, wine was tasted only thrice in each month.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Nehemiah 5:18
“So far was he from extorting more than his due that he never demanded that, but lived upon what he had got in the king of Persia's court and his own estate in Judea: the reason he gives for this piece of self-denial is, Because the bondage was heavy upon the people.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a.an hundred and fifty of the Jews: The ledger widens into a daily account: a hundred and fifty Jews and rulers ate at his table besides the foreigners who came for business or worship, and the kitchen supplied an ox, six choice sheep and fowls each day, with wine laid in every ten days. Even carrying that cost himself, he required not the bread of the governor, and the reason he names is not thrift but mercy, because the bondage was heavy upon this people. A man with the legal right to tax a struggling province instead fed a hundred and fifty of its people from his own purse.
3. (v. 19)
Nehemiah 5:19, 2 voices
Nehemiah 5:19
“Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people. He expected not any recompence from the people, but from the Lord; and from him not in a way of merit, but of grace and good will, who forgets not what is done for his name's sake, Heb 6:10.”
Nehemiah 5:19
“Think upon me, my God, for good - Nehemiah wishes for no reward from man; and he only asks mercy at the hand of his God for what his providence enabled him to do; and which, according to the good hand of his God upon him, he had done faithfully. He does not offer his good deeds to God in extenuation of his sins, or as a compensation for the heaven he expected.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
a.Think upon me, my God, for good: The chapter closes on a single line of prayer, the first of the memoir's prayers asking God to remember his work, a shape repeated three times as Remember me, O my God in the book's last chapter: think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people. Nehemiah asks nothing from the people he has just fed and defended, no repayment and no praise, and turns the whole account toward God instead. The prayer sets the pattern the memoir keeps to its last chapter, a governor's ledger kept before God rather than before men.
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Nehemiah 5. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Adam Clarke; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871); John Gill; John Wesley and Matthew Henry.