Nehemiah 5:4

4 And there were those who said, "We are having to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay the king's tax.

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, "With our sons and our daughters, we are many; we must get grain, so that we may eat and stay alive."

3 There were also those who said, "We are having to pledge our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the famine."

4 And there were those who said, "We are having to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay the king's tax.

5 Now our flesh is the same as that of our kindred; our children are the same as their children; and yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are powerless, and our fields and vineyards now belong to others."

6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints.