Nehemiah 5:4

4 Also there were those who said, "We have borrowed money ¹for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards.

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 For there were those who said, "We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live."

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.

Cross References

• 1. Ezra 4:13; Ezra 7:24