Nehemiah 5:14

_MOREOVER FROM THE TIME THAT I WAS APPOINTED TO BE THEIR GOVERNOR IN THE LAND OF JUDAH, FROM THE TWENTIETH YEAR EVEN UNTO THE TWO AND THIRTIETH YEAR OF ARTAXERXES THE KING, THAT IS, TWELVE YEARS, I AND MY BRETHREN HAVE NOT EATEN THE BREAD OF THE GOVERNOR._ MOREOVER FROM THE TIME THAT I WAS APPOINTED ... We have a remarkable proof both of the opulence and disinterestedness of Nehemiah. Since he declined, on conscientious grounds, to accept the lawful emoluments attached to his government, and yet maintained a style of princely hospitality, for twelve years, out of his own resources, it is evident that his office of cup-bearer at the court of Shushan must have been very lucrative....

14-19 Those who truly fear God, will not dare to do any thing cruel or unjust. Let all who are in public places remember that they are so placed to do good, not to enrich themselves. Nehemiah mentions it to God in prayer, not as if he had merited any favour from God, but to show that he depended upon God only, to make up to him what he had lost and laid out for his honour. Nehemiah evidently spake and acted as one that knew himself to be a sinner. He did not mean to claim a reward as of debt, but in the manner that the Lord rewards a cup of cold water given to a disciple for his sake. The fear and love of God in the heart, and true love of the brethren, will lead to every good work. These are proper evidences of justifying faith; and our reconciled God will look upon persons of this character for good, according to all they have done for his people....

Verse 14. _I AND MY BRETHREN HAVE NOT EATEN THE BREAD OF THE_ _GOVERNOR._] From what is related here, and in the following verse, we find that the table of the governor was always supplied by the people with _bread_ and _wine_; and, besides, they had _forty shekels_ per diem for their other expenses. The people were also greatly oppressed by the _servants_ and _officers_ of the governor; but, during the _twelve years_ that Nehemiah had been with them, he took not this salary, and ate none of their bread. Nor were his servants permitted to take or exact any thing from them. Having such an example, it was scandalous for their chiefs, priests, and nobles, thus to oppress an afflicted and distressed people....

HAVE NOT EATEN THE BREAD OF THE GOVERNOR - i. e. “have not, like other Persian governors, lived at the expense of the people under my government.” See Ezra 4:14 note....

EXPOSITION GENERAL ACCOUNT OF NEHEMIAH'S GOVERNMENT (Nehemiah 5:14). Having given this account of the internal difficulties which threatened to put a stop to the building of the wall before it was well begun, and been led in the course of it to speak of the poverty and sufferings of the common people, Nehemiah not unnaturally goes on to inform us of the methods by which in his general government he endeavoured to alleviate the distress, or at any rate to avoid adding to the burthens which pressed upon the poorer classes. From the time that he entered upon his office, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, B.C. 444, to the time of his writing this portion of his Book, in the thirty-second year of the same king, B.C. 432, he had lived entirely at his own expe

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

NEHEMIAH ENUMERATES THE OUTSTANDING FEATURES OF HIS BENEFICENT RULE. The main points here are that Nehemiah and his subordinate officials had not taken advantage of their undoubted right of exacting provisions from the people (I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor, i.e. the sustenance which he, as the governor, had a right to claim); secondly, he recalls how tenaciously he clung to his purpose of the rebuilding of the walls (Nehemiah 5:16); and thirdly, he reminds the people of the way in which he had supported the poor (Nehemiah 5:17 f.). Nehemiah 5:14. from the twentieth. the king: _i.e._ 445- 433 B.C.; in the latter year he went back to Babylon for a short visit ...

MOREOVER FROM THE TIME THAT. WAS APPOINTED, &C. Nehemiah 5:14 are put within brackets for the following reasons: As Nehemiah's record must have been written many years later, after the dedication both of the Temple (405 B.C.) and the Wall (403 B.C.), the reference to his policy during the twelve years of his governorship, from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes (Darius Hystaspis, 419-407 B. C), is introduced here, in order to emphasize the contrast between the rapacity of "the nobles and rulers" (Nehemiah 5:7), and his own conduct. For he says that, not only at that time (454 B.C.) did he not exploit the people for his own advantage, but that during his governorship (which ended in 407 B. C, some four or five years at least before the time of his writing the final record, more

Nehemiah recounts other measures by which as governor he endeavoured to relieve the condition of his brethren 14. _Moreover_, &c. i.e. Here is another instance. During the whole tenure of his office, Nehemiah provided out of his own purse for the expenses of his official position. _from the time_…, that is, _twelve years_ Nehemiah was governor or Pekhah of Judah for twelve years, apparently from b.c. 445 or 4 to b.c. 433 or 432, cf. Nehemiah 13:6 with Nehemiah 2:1. See however Additional Note, p. 320. _have not eaten the bread of the governor_ i.e. the provisions usually supplied by the province for the maintenance of its Pekhah and his household. -Bread" of course must not be understood literally. It is explained in the next verse by -bread and wine, beside forty sh

3. Nehemiah vindicates his own conduct. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 5:14-19 14 Moreover, from the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor's food allowance. 15 But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people, But I did not do so because of the fear of God. 16 And I also applied myself to the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17 Moreover, there were at my table one hundred and fifty Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18 Now th