Nehemiah 5:1

_AND THERE WAS A GREAT CRY OF THE PEOPLE AND OF THEIR WIVES AGAINST THEIR BRETHREN THE JEWS._ There was a great cry of the people ... against their brethren. Such a crisis in the condition of the Jews in Jerusalem-fatigued with hard labour, and harassed by the machinations of restless enemies, the majority of them poor, and the bright visions which hope had painted, of pure happiness on their return to the land of their fathers, being unrealized-must have been very trying to their faith and patience. But, in addition to these vexatious oppressions, many began to sink under a new and more grievous evil. The poor made loud complaints against the rich for taking advantage of their necessities, and grinding them by usurious exactions. Numbers of them had, in consequence of these oppressions, been driven to such extremities that they had to mortgage their lands and houses to enable them to p...

1-5 Men prey upon their fellow-creatures: by despising the poor they reproach their Maker. Such conduct is a disgrace to any, but who can sufficiently abhor it when adopted by professing Christians? With compassion for the oppressed, we should lament the hardships which many in the world are groaning under; putting our souls into their souls' stead, and remembering in our prayers and succours those who are burdened. But let those who show no mercy, expect judgment without mercy....

CHAPTER V _The people complain that they are oppressed and enthralled by_ _their richer brethren_, 1-3. _Nehemiah calls them to account; upbraids them for their cruelty;_ _and obliges them to swear that they will forgive the debts,_ _restore the mortgaged estates, and free their servants_, 4-13. _Nehemiah's generosity and liberality_, 14-17. _The daily provision for his table_, 18, 19. NOTES ON CHAP. V...

EXPOSITION INTERNAL DIFFICULTIES, AND NEHEMIAH'S MODE OF MEETING THEM (Nehemiah 5:1). While the building of the wall was in progress, but not, so far as it is stated, in direct connection with the employment of the mass of the people in unremunerative labour, internal evils showed themselves which demanded prompt attention and remedy. Complaints were made to Nehemiah by large numbers of the lower orders, both men and women—the shrill voices of the latter rising to the intensity of a "great cry" (verse 1)—to the effect that the oppression of the rich and great, combined with some other permanent or temporary causes, was depriving them of their houses and plots of land, and forcing them to sell their sons and their daughters into slavery (vers

CHAPTER 5 _ 1. The complaint of oppression (Nehemiah 5:1)_ 2. Nehemiah's rebuke and demands (Nehemiah 5:6) 3. Nehemiah's generosity (Nehemiah 5:14) Nehemiah 5:1. The internal conditions among the toiling people were serious. The work which was done in rebuilding the walls was a labor of love; no wages were paid. As the people were thus engaged their other occupations, including agriculture, had to be neglected. As a result the poor had been driven to mortgage their lands, vineyards and houses in order to buy corn, because of the dearth. The rich had taken advantage of this and had enslaved their sons an

DISTRESS AMONG THE JEWS. Neither this nor the next section, Nehemiah 5:14 (the two belong closely together) can be in their right place. Nehemiah 5:1 deals with the economic straits to which the Jews had been reduced through want of food; yet the text nowhere hints that their evil plight was in any way the result of the building of the walls; besides, this building did not take long enough (see Nehemiah 6:15) to occasion such widespread suffering as the narrative seems to indicate, even supposing the entire population to have ceased their ordinary work in order to give themselves to the work of building, a thing which Nehemiah 4:12

A GREAT CRY. So there were troubles within as well as without. Compare 2 Corinthians 7:5. THE PEOPLE. the common people, in contrast with the nobles and rulers (Nehemiah 5:7), who had returned with Nehemiah....

_And there was a great cry_, &c. R.V. THEN THERE AROSE A GREAT CRY, &c. The R.V. rightly shows that the outbreak of the discontentment described in these verses was connected with the rebuilding of the walls. A general stoppage of trade must have resulted from the national undertaking. The presence of the enemy in the neighbourhood prevented free agricultural labour. _the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews_ By -the people and their wives" are denoted the poorer classes, the great bulk of the nation as distinguished from the nobles and the priests. -Their brethren the Jews," seem here to denote -the nobles and the rulers" whom Nehemiah rebukes in Nehemiah 5:7. At any rate the cry proceeds from the poor, the multitudes who were driven in their need to borrow, against the few who could afford to lend. The actual expression -their brethren the Jews,...

TEXT AND VERSE-BY-VERSE COMMENT E. Internal difficulties arise and are overcome. 1. Selfishness and greed create a problem. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 5:1-5 1 Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. 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 And 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 And 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 bo

NEHEMIAH'S MEASURES IN ALLEVIATION OF POVERTY 1. The people] i.e. the commons (as contrasted with the nobles and rulers, Nehemiah 5:7). These had neglected their own interests to labour gratuitously on the fortifications, and now in the time of dearth were feeling the pinch of want....