Discovery BoxNehemiah 5:7 
Context5:7 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
Context10:29 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
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).
