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Nehemiah 5:5

in Nehemiah 5

We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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 into bondage already: neither is it in our power to help it; for other men have our fields and our vineyards.

KJV

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.

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This verse in Nehemiah 5

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
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).

This site's exposition

borrowed money for the king’s tribute

on Nehemiah 5:4-5

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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

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.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

on Nehemiah 5:1-5

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.

The words behind it

23 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְעַתָּ֗הand now

    veatahH6258 →433 times

  • כִּבְשַׂ֤ר[is] like [the] flesh of

    kivsarH1320 →

  • אַחֵ֙ינוּ֙countrymen our

    ʾacheinuH251 →630 times

  • בְּשָׂרֵ֔נוּflesh our

    besarenuH1320 →

  • כִּבְנֵיהֶ֖ם[are] like children their

    kivneihemH1121 →4930 times

  • בָּנֵ֑ינוּchildren our

    baneinuH1121 →4930 times

  • וְהִנֵּ֣הand there!

    vehinehH2009 →843 times

  • אֲנַ֣חְנוּwe

    ʾanachnuH587 →120 times

  • כֹ֠בְשִׁים[are] bringing into bondage

    khoeshimH3533 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • בָּנֵ֨ינוּsons our

    baneinuH1121 →4930 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • בְּנֹתֵ֜ינוּdaughters our

    benoteinuH1323 →588 times

  • לַעֲבָדִ֗יםto slaves

    laavadimH5650 →799 times

  • וְיֵ֨שׁand there

    veyeshH3426 →140 times

  • מִבְּנֹתֵ֤ינוּ[are] some of daughters our

    mibenoteinuH1323 →588 times

  • נִכְבָּשׁוֹת֙being brought into bondage

    nikhbashotH3533 →

  • וְאֵ֣יןand there not

    veeinH369 →789 times

  • לְאֵ֣ל[is] to [the] power of

    leelH410 →241 times

  • יָדֵ֔נוּhand our

    yadenuH3027 →1618 times

  • וּשְׂדֹתֵ֥ינוּand fields our

    usedoteinuH7704 →334 times

  • וּכְרָמֵ֖ינוּand vineyards our

    ukherameinuH3754 →92 times

  • לַאֲחֵרִֽים׃[belong] to others

    laacherimH312 →166 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Matthew 18:25Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.9 worksIsaiah 50:1This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.6 works2 Kings 4:1Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!”5 worksLeviticus 25:39–43If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor.5 worksExodus 21:7And if a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as the menservants do.4 worksGenesis 37:27Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And they agreed.3 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 58:7Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?3 worksLeviticus 25:48he retains the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his brothers may redeem him:3 worksJob 24:9The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.3 worksExodus 21:1–11“These are the ordinances that you are to set before them:2 worksGenesis 29:14Then Laban declared, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him a month,2 worksJames 2:5–6Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?2 worksJob 31:15Did not He who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same One form us in the womb?2 worksEsther 7:4For my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as menservants and maidservants, I would have remained silent, because no such distress would justify burdening the king.”2 worksEphesians 6:9And masters, do the same for your slaves. Give up your use of threats, because you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.2 worksExodus 21:26If a man strikes and blinds the eye of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the eye.2 worksGenesis 17:13Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant.2 worksDeuteronomy 5:14but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox or donkey or any of your livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest as you do.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 58:7

    Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own…

    it leads to

    • Matthew 25:35–45

      For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,

    • Luke 3:11

      John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”

    • Ezekiel 18:7

      He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

    • 1 John 3:17–18

      If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?

    • Proverbs 28:27

      Whoever gives to the poor will not be in need, but he who hides his eyes will receive many curses.

  • Through

    2 Kings 4:1

    Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor…

    it leads to

    • Matthew 18:25

      Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.

    • 2 Kings 2:3

      Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do…

    • Nehemiah 5:2–5

      Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”

About Nehemiah

Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah: the study guide →Read Nehemiah 5 →

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 Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Nehemiah 5 →