Nehemiah 5:7

5:7 I considered these things carefully 1  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy 2  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral 3  from your own countrymen!” 4  Because of them I called for 5  a great public assembly.

Nehemiah 10:28

10:28 “Now the rest of the people – the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple attendants, and all those who have separated themselves from the neighboring peoples 6  because of the law of God, along with their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all of whom are able to understand –

Nehemiah 13:26

13:26 Was it not because of things like these that King Solomon of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made 7  him king over all Israel. But the foreign wives made even him sin!

1 tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”

2 tn Heb “nobles.”

3 tn Heb “taking a creditor’s debt.” The Hebrew noun מַשָּׁא (masha’) means “interest; debt” and probably refers to the collateral (pledge) collected by a creditor (HALOT 641-42 s.v.). This particular noun form appears only in Nehemiah (5:7, 10; 10:32); however, it is related to מַשָּׁאָה (masha’ah, “contractual loan; debt; collateral”) which appears elsewhere (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; cf. Neh 5:11). See the note on the word “people” at the end of v. 5. The BHS editors suggest emending the MT to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”), following several medieval Hebrew MSS; however, the result is not entirely clear: “you are bearing a burden, a man with his brothers.”

4 tn Heb “his brothers.”

5 tn Heb “I gave.”

6 tn Heb “from the peoples of the lands.” Cf. vv. 30, 31.

7 tn Heb “gave.”