Tree of Life Version
Nehemiah 5:5
5And now, though we share the same flesh as our brothers, and our children are just like their children, still we subject our sons and our daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved but our hands are tied since our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
Nehemiah 5:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.
- New International Version (NIV)Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards.”
Context of Nehemiah 5:5
3There were others who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses in order to obtain grain during the famine.” 4Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. And now, though we share the same flesh as our brothers, and our children are just like their children, still we subject our sons and our daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved but our hands are tied since our fields and vineyards belong to others.” 6I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7I pondered them in my heart and then I opposed the nobles and the officials, saying to them, “Usury! Each of you is putting his brother in debt!” So I convened a great assembly to deal with them.
Read all of Nehemiah 5Nehemiah 5:5 word by word
וְעַתָּ֗ה כִּבְשַׂ֤ר אַחֵ֙ינוּ֙ בְּשָׂרֵ֔נוּ כִּבְנֵיהֶ֖ם בָּנֵ֑ינוּ וְהִנֵּ֣ה אֲנַ֣חְנוּ כֹ֠בְשִׁים אֶת־בָּנֵ֨ינוּ וְאֶת־בְּנֹתֵ֜ינוּ לַעֲבָדִ֗ים וְיֵ֨שׁ מִבְּנֹתֵ֤ינוּ נִכְבָּשׁוֹת֙ וְאֵ֣ין לְאֵ֣ל יָדֵ֔נוּ וּשְׂדֹתֵ֥ינוּ וּכְרָמֵ֖ינוּ לַאֲחֵרִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Yet now our fleshבָּשָׂרbâώâr · fleshH1320
- of our brethrenאָח'âch · brother: compatriotH251
- our childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- and, lo, we bring into bondageכָּבַשׁkâbash · to subdueH3533
- and our daughtersבַּתbath · daughterH1323
- to be servantsעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
- areיֵשׁyêsh · thereH3426
- in our powerיָדyâd · hand: powerH3027
- in our powerאֵל'êl · god: powerH410
- for other menאַחֵר'achêr · anotherH312
- have our landsשָׂדֶהώâdeh ώâday · land: countryH7704
- and vineyardsכֶּרֶםkerem · vineyardH3754
Cross-references for Nehemiah 5:5
- Genesis 37:27Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites. Let’s not lay our hand on him—since he’s our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers listened to him.
- Isaiah 58:7Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the homeless poor into your house? When you see the naked, to cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh and blood?
- James 2:5Listen, my dear brothers and sisters. Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that He promised to those who love Him?
- Exodus 21:1“Now these are the ordinances which you will set before them.
- Leviticus 25:39“If your brother has grown poor among you and sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave labor.
- 2 Kings 4:1Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha saying, “Your servant my husband is dead—you know that your servant feared Adonai. Now the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”
- Matthew 18:25But since he didn’t have the money to repay, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.
Commentaries on Nehemiah 5:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5We bring in to bondage our sons - The law permitted parents to sell their children in times of extreme necessity, Exodus 21:7.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5The power of a father to sell his daughter into slavery is expressly mentioned in the Law Exodus 21:7. The power to sell a son appears from this passage. In either case, the sale held good for only six years, or until the next year of jubilee (see the marginal references).Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery: See Exodus 21:1–11. These families were desperate.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-51-5. 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 labor 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…Read the comment
Topics related to Nehemiah 5:5
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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