Discovery BoxNehemiah 5:5 
Context5:5 And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, 1 and our children are just like their children, 2 still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. 3 Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, 4 since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people.” 5
Nehemiah 5:18
Context5:18 Every day one ox, six select sheep, and some birds were prepared for me, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Despite all this I did not require the food allotted to the governor, for the work was demanding on this people.
Nehemiah 13:19
Context13:19 When the evening shadows 6 began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered 7 the doors to be closed. I further directed that they were not to be opened until after the Sabbath. I positioned 8 some of my young men at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day.
Nehemiah 13:25
Context13:25 So I entered a complaint with them. I called down a curse on them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair. I had them swear by God saying, “You will not marry off 9 your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!
1 tn Heb “according to the flesh of our brothers is our flesh.”
2 tn Heb “like their children, our children.”
3 tn Heb “to become slaves” (also later in this verse).
4 tn Heb “there is not power for our hand.” The Hebrew expression used here is rather difficult.
5 sn The poor among the returned exiles were being exploited by their rich countrymen. Moneylenders were loaning large amounts of money, and not only collecting interest on loans which was illegal (Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19-20), but also seizing pledges as collateral (Neh 5:3) which was allowed (Deut 24:10). When the debtors missed a payment, the moneylenders would seize their collateral: their fields, vineyards and homes. With no other means of income, the debtors were forced to sell their children into slavery, a common practice at this time (Neh 5:5). Nehemiah himself was one of the moneylenders (Neh 5:10), but he insisted that seizure of collateral from fellow Jewish countrymen was ethically wrong (Neh 5:9).
6 tn Heb “the gates of Jerusalem grew dark.”
7 tn Heb “said” (so also in v. 22).
8 tn Heb “caused to stand.”
9 tn Heb “give.”
