Study notes

Nehemiah 5

Introducing NehemiahWho wrote it, when, why, and what to look for as you read

3:1–7:3 Section

Jewish men and women from many towns and cities helped rebuild the wall. So did priests, leaders, traders, people who worked with gold and people who made perfume. Temple servants helped as well. They had a clear plan.

All together they worked very hard for the same goal. They finished building the wall in 52 days. They faced many problems as they worked. Some of the problems came from the people groups around them. These groups were willing to kill the Jews to stop them from building the wall. These groups also tried to harm Nehemiah. Nehemiah made clever plans to protect the people while they kept working. And he had complete trust in God’s power to protect them.

Some of the problems came from within the Jewish community. Some Jewish nobles didn’t help rebuild the wall. They worked against Nehemiah to stop the work. A priest and many prophets tried to make him afraid of being attacked. And there were nobles and officials who took advantage of needy people. These leaders weren’t following God’s example of how to be rulers.

Nehemiah did follow God’s example. He used his authority as governor to do what was good for the Jewish people. He corrected the problems so that the needy people were taken care of. He didn’t try to get rich by making people give him money. Instead, he provided what other people needed. He used the food and supplies the Persian government gave him to do this. He made sure that honest leaders who respected God were in charge in Jerusalem.

5:1–13

Severe financial problems almost stopped the wall's completion (Nehemiah 5:1–5), but Nehemiah found a solution (5:6–13).

5:2

Some farmers stopped growing crops to help build the wall. This left their large families needing food. Someone had to feed their families, or the farmers would stop working on the wall and return to their fields.

5:3

Some small landowners had mortgaged everything to survive. The famine worsened the problem because grain was scarce and food prices naturally rose.

5:4

pay the king’s tax: Despite the famine, the Persians did not cancel the heavy royal taxes due at harvest time.

5:5

we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery: See Exodus 21:1–11. These families were desperate.

5:6–7

Nehemiah was very angry, but he controlled himself. He thought it over and then spoke to resolve the conflict instead of worsening it (see James 1:19–20).

5:9

walk in the fear of our God: See Leviticus 25:35–43.
avoid the reproach: See also Nehemiah 1:3; 2:19; 4:1–3.

5:10

I...have been lending: Nehemiah and his associates made loans without burdening people. Nehemiah’s example was to give financial help without causing more debt by charging interest (see Deuteronomy 15:7–11).

5:11

Nehemiah demanded that the wealthy lenders return the fields and repay the interest (literally the hundredth part), which they should not have collected (see also Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35–37). The term hundredth part suggests the interest was one percent per month. This was lower than the 20 percent annual rate found in some documents of that time, or the 60 percent annual rate charged at Elephantine in Egypt. However, even a low interest rate violated God's covenant.

5:12

required of the nobles and officials an oath: Both God and the community would hold them accountable.

5:14

This is the first time Nehemiah is mentioned as governor. The king did not mention this role when he first sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem.
Persia's government officials usually received an official food allowance from the local population. However, Nehemiah and his associates bought food with their regular pay instead.