Nehemiah 5:4 BSB — MannaFest

Nehemiah 5:4

Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute upon our fields and our vineyards.

KJV

There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.

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Commentary

3 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

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.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

9 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וְיֵשׁ֙	ve.Yesh	and there	H3426 →
אֲשֶׁ֣ר	'a.Sher	[were those] who	H834 →
אֹמְרִ֔ים	'o.me.Rim	[were] saying	H559 →
לָוִ֥ינוּ	la.Vi.nu	we have borrowed	H3867 →
כֶ֖סֶף	Khe.sef	money	H3701 →
לְמִדַּ֣ת	le.mi.Dat	for [the] tribute of	H4060 →
הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ	ha.Me.lekh	the king	H4428 →
שְׂדֹתֵ֖ינוּ	se.do.Tei.nu	fields our	H7704 →
וּכְרָמֵֽינוּ׃	u.khe.ra.Mei.nu	and vineyards our	H3754 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Ezra 4:13
Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.
leads to
- Ezra 7:24
  And be advised that you have no authority to impose tribute, duty, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Joshua 16:10
But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.
leads to
- Judges 1:29
  Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer.
- Deuteronomy 7:1–2
  When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations…
- Joshua 17:13
  However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they put the Canaanites to forced labor; but they failed to drive them out completely.
- 1 Kings 9:16
  Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
Through
Ezra 4:20
And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.
leads to
- Genesis 15:18
  On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- 1 Kings 4:21
  And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of…
- Psalms 72:8
  May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

About Nehemiah

Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Nehemiah: the study guide →Read chapter 5 →The featured study →

Continue: Nehemiah 5 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Nehemiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Nehemiah