EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Nehemiah 5:11
11Now you must give back to them their fields, their vineyards, their gardens of olive trees and their houses. Do not make them pay any extra money for the money, food, wine or olive oil that you lent to them.’
Nehemiah 5:11 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.
- New International Version (NIV)Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them.”
Context of Nehemiah 5:11
9Then I said to them, ‘You are doing something that is completely wrong. Instead, you should obey God and live in a good way. Then the foreign people who are our enemies will not have a chance to insult us. 10I myself have agreed to lend poor people money and food. My family and my friends have done the same thing. But we must not make those poor people pay back more to us. Now you must give back to them their fields, their vineyards, their gardens of olive trees and their houses. Do not make them pay any extra money for the money, food, wine or olive oil that you lent to them.’ 12The leaders replied, ‘We will give everything back to them. We will not make them pay back their debts to us. We will do everything that you have said.’ I told the priests to come to our meeting. While they were with us, I made the Jewish leaders and officers make a strong promise. They agreed to do what they had promised to do. 13I shook my coat so that everything fell out of its pockets. I said, ‘You must all do what you have promised to do. If not, I pray that God will shake you out like that! He will take away your homes and all your things. You will be left with nothing!’ Everyone at the meeting said, ‘Amen, we agree!’ They praised the Lord. All the people did what they had promised to do.
Read all of Nehemiah 5Nehemiah 5:11 word by word
הָשִׁיבוּ֩ נָ֨א לָהֶ֜ם כְּהַיּ֗וֹם שְׂדֹתֵיהֶ֛ם כַּרְמֵיהֶ֥ם זֵיתֵיהֶ֖ם וּבָתֵּיהֶ֑ם וּמְאַ֨ת הַכֶּ֤סֶף וְהַדָּגָן֙ הַתִּיר֣וֹשׁ וְהַיִּצְהָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַתֶּ֖ם נֹשִׁ֥ים בָּהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Restoreשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- I pray you, to them, even this dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- their landsשָׂדֶהώâdeh ώâday · land: countryH7704
- their vineyardsכֶּרֶםkerem · vineyardH3754
- their oliveyardsזַ֫יִתzayith · oliveH2132
- and their housesבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
- also the hundredthמֵאָהmê'âh mê'yâh · hundredH3967
- of the moneyכֶּ֫סֶףkeseph · silver: moneyH3701
- and of the cornדָּגָןdâgân · grainH1715
- the wineתִּירוֹשׁtîyrôsh tîyrôsh · new wineH8492
- and the oilיִצְהָרyitshâr · oilH3323
- that ye exactנָשָׁהnâshâh · to lendH5383
Cross-references for Nehemiah 5:11
- Leviticus 6:4He has done something that is wrong. So he must show that he is sorry. He must give back anything that is not his. He must give back anything that he has found. He must give back anything that he has kept. He must give it to the person to whom it belongs.
- 1 Samuel 12:3Look at me. I stand here where the Lord and his chosen king can see me. Speak now if I have done any wrong thing against you. Have I taken anyone's cow or anyone's donkey? Have I cheated anyone? Have I been cruel to anyone? Have I received bribes from anyone to say that they are not guilty? If I have done any of those things, tell me! Then I will pay back my debt.’
- 2 Samuel 12:6He did that cruel thing and he was not sorry for the poor man. So he must pay the poor man enough money to buy four lambs.’
- Isaiah 58:6This is the way that I want you to fast: You must remove the chains from prisoners who should not be in prison. You must stop being cruel to the people who work for you. You must let people who are in pain go free. You must break the yoke of work that is too hard for weak people.
- Luke 3:8You have to show that you are sorry. Change how you live. Stop doing things that God does not like. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We are in the family of Abraham. God will surely not punish us.” Listen! God can take these stones and make children for Abraham out of them!
- Nehemiah 5:3Other people said, ‘People have to lend us money to buy food. We have to give them our fields, our vineyards and our homes until we can pay them back.’
Commentaries on Nehemiah 5:11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11Also the hundredth part of the money - Houbigant contends, That the word מאת meath, which we and the Vulgate translate one hundredth part, never means so anywhere; and That it would have answered no end to have remitted to people so distressed merely the one hundredth part of the money which had been taken from them by usury. He understands מאת meath as signifying the same as את מן min eth, contracted into מאת meeth, a preposition and demonstrative…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11The hundredth part of the money - i. e. the interest. It is conjectured that the 100th part was payable monthly, or, in other words, that interest was taken at the rate of twelve per cent. The Law altogether disallowed the taking of interest from Israelites (see Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36, etc.).Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-13Verses 6-13 Nehemiah knew that, if he built Jerusalem's walls ever so high, so thick, or so strong, the city could not be safe while there were abuses. The right way to reform men's lives, is to convince their consciences. If you walk in the fear of God, you will not be either covetous of worldly gain, or cruel toward your brethren. Nothing exposes religion more to reproach, than the worldliness and hard-heartedness of the professors of it. Those that…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11Nehemiah demanded that the wealthy lenders return the fields and repay the interest (literally the hundredth part), which they should not have collected (see also Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35–37). The term hundredth part suggests the interest was one percent per month. This was lower than the 20 percent annual rate found in some documents of that time, or the 60 percent annual rate charged at Elephantine in Egypt. However, even a low interest rate…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 6-196-12. I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words--When such disorders came to the knowledge of the governor, his honest indignation was roused against the perpetrators of the evil. Having summoned a public assembly, he denounced their conduct in terms of just severity. He contrasted it with his own in redeeming with his money some of the Jewish exiles who, through debt or otherwise, had lost their personal liberty in Babylon. He urged the…Read the comment
Topics related to Nehemiah 5:11
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Nehemiah 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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