Nehemiah 5:4

4 And there were those who were saying, "We have borrowed money on our fields and our vineyards for the tax of the king.

Nehemiah 5:4 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 5:4

There were also that said
Who though they were able to buy corn for their families without mortgaging their estates: yet, say they,

we have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands
and vineyards;
for though the priests, Levites, and Nethinims, were exempted from it, yet not the people in common; and some of these were so poor, that they could not pay it without borrowing upon their estates, and paying large usury for it, see ( Ezra 6:8 ) ( 7:24 )

Nehemiah 5:4 In-Context

2 There were those who were saying, "Our sons and daughters, we are many. We must get grain so that we may eat and live."

3 There were also those saying, "We have pledged our fields and our vineyards and our houses so that we can get grain in the famine."

4 And there were those who were saying, "We have borrowed money on our fields and our vineyards for the tax of the king.

5 Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our sons are like their sons. Look, we are subduing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and there are some from our daughters being molested. {We are powerless}, and our fields and vineyards [belong] to others."

6 I was very angry when I heard their shouts and these words.