Nehemiah 5:15

15 Governors who had preceded me had oppressed the people by taxing them forty shekels of silver (about a pound) a day for food and wine while their underlings bullied the people unmercifully. But out of fear of God I did none of that.

Nehemiah 5:15 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 5:15

But the former governors, that had been before me, were
chargeable to the people
Between him and Zerubbabel, for Ezra was no governor; according to the Jewish chronology ^F13, when Ezra came to Jerusalem, Zerubbabel returned to Babylon, and there died, and his son Methullam was in his stead, and after him succeeded Hananiah his son:

and had taken of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver;
which amounted to between four and five pounds, and this they had every day:

yea, even their servants bare rule over the people;
required a salary, or at least perquisites of them, which the governors connived at:

but so did not I, because of the fear of God;
neither took anything himself of the people, nor suffered his servants; because the fear of God was upon his heart, and before his eyes, and therefore could not allow himself to oppress the poor.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Seder Olam Zuta, p. 108, 109.

Nehemiah 5:15 In-Context

13 Then I emptied my pockets, turning them inside out, and said, "So may God empty the pockets and house of everyone who doesn't keep this promise - turned inside out and emptied." Everyone gave a wholehearted "Yes, we'll do it!" and praised God. And the people did what they promised. "Remember in My Favor, O My God"

14 From the time King Artaxerxes appointed me as their governor in the land of Judah - from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of his reign, twelve years - neither I nor my brothers used the governor's food allowance.

15 Governors who had preceded me had oppressed the people by taxing them forty shekels of silver (about a pound) a day for food and wine while their underlings bullied the people unmercifully. But out of fear of God I did none of that.

16 I had work to do; I worked on this wall. All my men were on the job to do the work. We didn't have time to line our own pockets.

17 I fed one hundred and fifty Jews and officials at my table in addition to those who showed up from the surrounding nations.