Nehemiah 5:17

_MOREOVER THERE WERE AT MY TABLE AN HUNDRED AND FIFTY OF THE JEWS AND RULERS, BESIDE THOSE THAT CAME UNTO US FROM AMONG THE HEATHEN THAT ARE ABOUT US._ Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews. In the East it has been always customary to calculate the expense of a king's or grandee's establishment, not by the amount of money disbursed, but by the quantity of provisions consumed (see 1 Kings 6:22; 1 Kings 18:19; Ecclesiastes 5:11)....

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 17. _A HUNDRED AND FIFTY OF THE JEWS_] He kept _open house_, entertained _all comers_; besides having _one hundred and fifty_ Jews who had their food constantly at his table, and at his expense. To be able to bear all these expenses, no doubt Nehemiah had saved money while he was cup-bearer to the Persian king in _Susa_....

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 ...

See Nehemiah 5:14 for. longer note that applies to this verse. FIFTY OF. fifty men of. HEATHEN. nations....

_Moreover_ Nehemiah mentions another proof of his generosity as governor. He regularly entertained over 150 officials, and welcomed Jewish strangers to his table. _an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those that came unto us_, &c. The English rendering which seems here to distinguish between -the Jews" and -rulers" (or -deputies"), and to speak of three classes (1) the Jews, (2) rulers, (3) strangers from outside Judæa, may be supported by the traditional interpretation preserved in the Hebrew accents. From the position here assigned to -the Jews," the word, if taken to express a distinct class of the community, must be used of -the heads of the great Jewish houses or families" (cf. Ezra 2) as distinct from the administrative officers (see Nehemiah 2:16). According to this explanation t

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

5:17 rulers, (d-16) See Ezra 9:2 ....