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Nehemiah 5:8

in Nehemiah 5

and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!” But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, that were sold unto the nations; and would ye even sell your brethren, and should they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found never a word.

KJV

And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.

This verse in Nehemiah 5

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
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.

This site's exposition

they could find nothing to say

on Nehemiah 5:8-9

Nehemiah sets his own record against theirs. His hearers "could find nothing to say" (5:8). Verse 9 names the standard, "the fear of our God," and "the reproach of our foreign enemies," so the watching nations testify against usury.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Those whom God by his grace has made free ought not to be again brought under a yoke of bondage, Gal. v. 1; That it was a great sin thus to oppress the poor (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Be sold - Do you expect that we should pay you a price for them, as we did to the Babylonians?. Or, must we use as much importunity to solicit you for their redemption, as we did to their enemies?
And I said unto them,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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.

The words behind it

22 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.

  • וָאֹמְרָ֣הand I said !

    vaomerahH559 →5305 times

  • לָהֶ֗םto them

    lahem

  • אֲנַ֣חְנוּwe

    ʾanachnuH587 →120 times

  • קָ֠נִינוּwe have bought

    kaninuH7069 →

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אַחֵ֨ינוּcountrymen our

    ʾacheinuH251 →630 times

  • הַיְּהוּדִ֜יםthe Jews

    haiyehudimH3064 →75 times

  • הַנִּמְכָּרִ֤יםwho sold themselves

    hanimkarimH4376 →80 times

  • לַגּוֹיִם֙to the nations

    lagoyimH1471 →561 times

  • כְּדֵ֣יaccording to [the] sufficiency

    kedeiH1767 →

  • בָ֔נוּin us

    vanu

  • וְגַם־and also

    vegam-H1571 →769 times

  • אַתֶּ֛םyou

    ʾatemH859 →1094 times

  • תִּמְכְּר֥וּyou sold

    timkeruH4376 →80 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֲחֵיכֶ֖םcountrymen your

    ʾacheikhemH251 →630 times

  • וְנִמְכְּרוּ־and they were sold

    venimkeru-H4376 →80 times

  • לָ֑נוּto us

    lanu

  • וַֽיַּחֲרִ֔ישׁוּand they were silent

    vaiyacharishuH2790 →

  • וְלֹ֥אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • מָצְא֖וּthey found

    matzeuH4672 →455 times

  • דָּבָֽר׃ סa word

    davarH1697 →1440 times

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

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

    Romans 3:19

    Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 3:10

      All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”

    • Galatians 3:22–23

      But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.

    • Romans 2:12–18

      All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

    • Romans 3:9

      What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.

    • Galatians 5:18

      But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 8:11

    So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.

    it leads to

    • Romans 14:15

      If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.

    • Romans 15:1–3

      We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

  • Through

    Matthew 25:15

    To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent—each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 18:24

      As he began the settlements, a debtor was brought to him owing ten thousand talents.

Where this verse is studied

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.

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 and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.