Nehemiah 5:19

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 Nehemiah 5:19. _THINK UPON ME, MY GOD, FOR GOOD_] Nehemiah wishes for no reward from _man_; and he only asks _mercy_ at the hand of his God for what his _providence_ enabled him to do; and which, according to the good hand of his God upon him, he had done _faithfully_. He does not offer his _good deeds_ to God in extenuation _of_ his _sins_, or as a _compensation_ for the _heaven_ he expected. Nothing of the kind: he simply says, what any good man might say, My God, _as_ I have done good to them, _so_ do good to me; or as the poet has sung: - "Teach me to feel another's wo, To hide the fault I see: The mercy I to others show, That mercy show to

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. THINK. Figure of speech _Apostrophe_ (App-6) and Figure of speech _Anthropopatheia_....

_Think upon me, my God, for good_, according to _all_, &c. R.V. REMEMBER UNTO ME, O MY GOD, FOR GOOD, ALL, &c. -Remember" is the natural translation here and in the similar passages, Nehemiah 6:14; Nehemiah 13:22; Nehemiah 13:29; Nehemiah 13:31. The A.V. unfortunately introduced the rendering -think upon" as a variation. For the use of -remember" in its application to the Deity, cf. 2 Chronicles 6:42; Judges 16:28;...

THINK UPON ME, MY GOD, FOR GOOD— See the note on ch. Nehemiah 13:31. REFLECTIONS.—1st, We heard but lately the cry of fear, because of the enemy without; in this chapter we have the cry of the poor, because of the oppressor within. Two causes had contributed to their poverty and distress; the dearth of their land, and the tribute still lying on them, which must be paid. To satisfy the cravings of hunger for themselves and families, as well as the relentless demands of the tax-gatherers, they were obliged, not only to mortgage their lands and vineyards, but to sell their children (though of the same stock and family as the richest), to relieve their wants, without the power of redemption, because of the growing debt from the usury exacted by their hard-hearted brethren. _Note;_ (1.) Among the most unhappy situations in life, we may justly reckon that of being in debt wi

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

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....