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 10:29

10:29 hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders 6  and enter into a curse and an oath 7  to adhere to 8  the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey 9  carefully all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, 10  along with his ordinances and his statutes.

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 “the nobles.”

7 tn The expression “a curse and an oath” may be a hendiadys, meaning “an oath with penalties.”

8 tn Heb “to walk in.”

9 tn Heb “keep.” See the note on the word “obey” in Neh 1:5.

10 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).