Nehemiah 5:5

5 "Now 1our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, 2we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless * * because our fields and vineyards belong to others."

Nehemiah 5:5 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 5:5

Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren
We are of the same nature, nation, stock, and religion: our children as their children; are circumcised as they, and have a right to the same privileges in church and state:

and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and daughters to be servants;
shall be obliged to it, unless relieved:

and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already;
sold to be servants, as they might in case of the poverty of parents, ( Exodus 21:7 ) , and some were sometimes taken to be bondmen in payment of their parents' debts, ( 2 Kings 4:1 )

neither is it in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands
and vineyards;
as pledges for money borrowed.

Nehemiah 5:5 In-Context

3 There were others who said, "We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine."
4 Also there were those who said, "We have borrowed money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards.
5 "Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others."
6 Then I was very angry when I had heard their outcry and these words.
7 I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said to them, "You are exacting usury, each from his brother!" Therefore, I held a great assembly against them.

Cross References 2

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Lit "there is not the power in our hands"
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