Nehemiah 5:8

5:8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews ¹  who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen, ²  so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.

Nehemiah 5:10

5:10 Even I and my relatives ³  and my associates ⁴  are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral! ⁵ 

Nehemiah 5:14

5:14 From the day that I was appointed ⁶  governor ⁷  in the land of Judah, that is, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes – twelve years in all – neither I nor my relatives ⁸  ate the food allotted to the governor. ⁹ 

Nehemiah 5:17

5:17 There were 150 Jews and officials who dined with me routinely, ¹⁰  in addition to those who came to us from the nations ¹¹  all around us.

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¹ tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”

² tn Heb “your brothers.”

³ tn Heb “brothers.”

⁴ tn Heb “lads.”

⁵ tn Heb “this debt.” This expression is a metonymy of association: “debt” refers to the seizure of the collateral of the debt.

⁶ tc The BHS editors suggest reading צֻוֵּאתִי (tsuvve’ti, “and I was appointed”) rather than the reading of the MT, אֹתִי צִוָּה (tsivvah ’oti, “he appointed me”).

⁷ tc The translation reads with one medieval Hebrew MS פֶּחָה (pekhah, “governor”) rather than פֶּחָם (pekham, “their governor”) of the MT. One would expect the form with pronominal suffix to have a tav (ת) before the suffix.

⁸ tn Heb “brothers.”

⁹ tn Heb “the food of the governor.” Cf. v. 18.

¹⁰ tn Heb “who were gathered around us at my table.”

¹¹ tn Or “from the Gentiles.” The same Hebrew word can refer to “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” Cf. the phrase in 6:16.