Nehemiah 5:11
in Nehemiah 5Please restore to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and oil that you have been assessing them.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their fields, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.
KJV
Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.
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This verse in Nehemiah 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.).
This site's exposition
let us leave off this usury
on Nehemiah 5:10-11
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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
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.
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?
), that by degrees they might make themselves masters of all they had. Yet this was not the worst. They took their children for bond-servants, to be enslaved or sold at pleasure,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Restore, I pray you, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words--When such disorders came to the knowledge of the governor, his honest indignation was roused against the perpetrators of the evil.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Also the hundredth part of the money - Houbigant contends, 1. That the word מאת meath, which we and the Vulgate translate one hundredth part, never means so anywhere; and 2. That it would have answered no end to have remitted to people so distressed merely the one hundredth part of the money which had been taken from them by usury. He understands מאת meath as signifying the same as מן את min eth, contracted into מאת meeth, a preposition and demonstrative particle joined together, also a part From The money. Neither the Syriac, Septuagint, nor Arabic acknowledges this hundredth part. Some think that the hundredth part is that which they obliged the poor debtors to pay each month, which would amount to what we would call twelve per cent. interest for the money lent, or the debt contracted. See the introduction.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
give back And you shall also do as I do, to relinquish all their debts to them.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I, too, and my brothers and my servants I, too, and my colleagues lent them money, and we shall abandon and relinquish to them all these loans.
And they said, “We shall return” And they said [that they were willing] to return and to relinquish all.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הָשִׁיבוּ֩ | hashivu | return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| נָ֨א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| לָהֶ֜ם | lahem | to them | ||
| כְּהַיּ֗וֹם | kehaiyom | as this day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| שְׂדֹתֵיהֶ֛ם | sedoteihem | fields their | H7704 → | 334 times |
| כַּרְמֵיהֶ֥ם | karmeihem | vineyards their | H3754 → | 92 times |
| זֵיתֵיהֶ֖ם | zeiteihem | olive trees their | H2132 → | 38 times |
| וּבָתֵּיהֶ֑ם | uvateihem | and houses their | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וּמְאַ֨ת | umeat | and [the] hundred of | H3967 → | 581 times |
| הַכֶּ֤סֶף | hakesef | the money | H3701 → | 403 times |
| וְהַדָּגָן֙ | vehadagan | and the grain | H1715 → | 40 times |
| הַתִּיר֣וֹשׁ | hatiroosh | the new wine | H8492 → | 38 times |
| וְהַיִּצְהָ֔ר | vehaiyitzhar | and the fresh oil | H3323 → | 23 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אַתֶּ֖ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| נֹשִׁ֥ים | noshim | [are] lending | H5383 → | |
| בָּהֶֽם׃ | bahem | to them |
הָשִׁיבוּ֩return
hashivuH7725 →1056 times
נָ֨אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
לָהֶ֜םto them
lahem
כְּהַיּ֗וֹםas this day
kehaiyomH3117 →2304 times
שְׂדֹתֵיהֶ֛םfields their
sedoteihemH7704 →334 times
כַּרְמֵיהֶ֥םvineyards their
karmeihemH3754 →92 times
זֵיתֵיהֶ֖םolive trees their
zeiteihemH2132 →38 times
וּבָתֵּיהֶ֑םand houses their
uvateihemH1004 →2046 times
וּמְאַ֨תand [the] hundred of
umeatH3967 →581 times
הַכֶּ֤סֶףthe money
hakesefH3701 →403 times
וְהַדָּגָן֙and the grain
vehadaganH1715 →40 times
הַתִּיר֣וֹשׁthe new wine
hatirooshH8492 →38 times
וְהַיִּצְהָ֔רand the fresh oil
vehaiyitzharH3323 →23 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אַתֶּ֖םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
נֹשִׁ֥ים[are] lending
noshimH5383 →
בָּהֶֽם׃to them
bahem
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 58:6Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?
it leads to
- Nehemiah 5:10–12
I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending the people money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury.
- Isaiah 58:9
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and…
- Jeremiah 34:8–11
After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD
- 1 Timothy 6:1
All who are under the yoke of slavery should regard their masters as fully worthy of honor, so that God’s name and our teaching will not be discredited.
- Nehemiah 5:10–12
Through
Luke 3:8Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 18:27–31
But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.
- Acts 26:20
First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of…
- Isaiah 1:16–18
Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!
- Ezekiel 18:27–31
Through
1 Samuel 12:3Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a…
it leads to
- Acts 20:33
I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.
- Acts 20:33
About Nehemiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.