Nehemiah Expresses His Anger, Admits His Own Part In Causing The Problem, And Propounds A Solution (Nehemiah 5:6-13).
When Nehemiah heard their pleas, he was angry, both with himself and with others. He immediately recognised that he and other comparatively wealthy Jews had, probably mainly inadvertently, but some out of sheer greed, been overlooking the needs of the poor. Now he called on them to put this right. The fact that the wealthy responded so readily does suggest that most of their behaviour was unthinking. Nehemiah calls partly on the teaching of the Law about usury (claiming back extra on top of basic loans, something forbidden in Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36-37; Deuteronomy 23:19-20) and partly on the contradictory nature of their behaviour. This latter point was based on the fact that they had generously paid to redeem their brothers from slavery while in Babylonia, and were doing the same in Judah, but were now themselves enslaving those same brothers, and others like them.
It is true that the Law did require that at the end of every seventh year all debt should be ‘released' (Deuteronomy 15:1 ff), and that all Hebrew slaves should also be released (Exodus 21:2-11; Deuteronomy 15:12-18), but we do not know how far these requirements were being fulfilled. And it did not solve the current situation. Thus Nehemiah went a step further. He called on the wealthy, in view of the circumstances, to make that release immediately. And it was to their credit that they were willing, even though it might be that many were willing simply in order not to lose face before their fellows.
‘And when I heard their cry and these words, I was very angry.'
The sad tales that came to him made Nehemiah angry, both with himself and with others. How could they have overlooked the needs of the families of those who had worked so willingly on the walls, presumably without pay? And how could they have overlooked a genuine situation of such extreme poverty? It is always the problem of the comparatively well off that they do not appreciate the position of those at the lowest levels of poverty. They just assume that they will get by, as they do themselves.
‘Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, “You exact usury, every one of his brother.” And I held a great gathering against them.'
As a consequence Nehemiah first of all examined his own conscience, (‘he consulted with himself') for he recognised that he had been equally guilty of ignoring the situation, by lending money to the poor on interest. And then he argued with the wealthy among the people, the aristocrats and rulers, and pointed out that they were doing the same. They were ‘exacting usury from their brothers', contrary to the Law. And he organised ‘a great gathering' where the matter could be considered. He knew that men were more disposed to charity if it was required of them in public.
‘And I said to them, “We after our ability have redeemed our brothers the Jews, who were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your brothers, and should they be sold to us?” Then they held their peace, and found never a word.'
He then called on them to consider the contradictory nature of their behaviour. While in Babylonia they had paid good money to redeem from slavery fellow-Jews who had been enslaved by foreigners, so that they could return with them to the land, and they had also paid local foreigners a redemption price for Jewish slaves in the land, and yet they were now themselves in the contradictory position of enslaving those same brothers, and others like them, selling them to themselves. Did they consider that this was pleasing to God?
This idea of the deliverance of Jewish slaves out of the hands of foreigners was prescribed in the Law, although the principle there was applied to those ‘in the land' where the idea of the year of Yubile applied, and the idea was that those ransomed would then serve off their debt as hired servants, not as slaves (Leviticus 25:47-55). It was, however, a practise that had been extended to include the ransom by generous Jews of any Jews in foreign hands.
Nehemiah was heard out in silence. All felt guilty. They recognised their own inconsistency, so much so that not one spoke up in his own defence. They acknowledged that they had no excuse for what they had been doing.
‘Also I said, “The thing which you do is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies?”
He stressed that what he and they were doing was not good. Should they not rather be fearing God, recognising that by their behaviour they were bringing the reproach of the nations round about, ‘their enemies' previously mentioned (Nehemiah 4:7), on themselves and on their God? They were proclaiming that their God was different from the gods of the nations, even from the YHWH of the syncretists, and yet they were demonstrating by their behaviour that it made no difference to the way that they lived, thus giving the impression that their God was in fact no different after all.
‘And I likewise, my brothers and my servants, do lend them money and grain. I pray you, let us leave off this usury.”
To his credit Nehemiah did not excuse himself. He and his retinue (his ‘servants', those who were helping him to run the country), and even his own relatives (his ‘brothers') were equally guilty of such behaviour, lending money and grain in order to obtain a return on them. They were following Persian and Babylonian ways. As they had, however, only been in Judah a short time, they could not actually have caused much hardship as the loans must have been very recent. But he admits that the intention had been there. By this means he took away the offence that otherwise his words may have caused. He was not being ‘holier than you'. It should be noted that this practise was not forbidden in itself, only when it was with regard to fellow-Jews (Deuteronomy 23:20). Thus he calls on them to cease the practise, as he intended to do. It was to be a permanent arrangement for the future, not a temporary measure.
It should be noted that this does not condemn the modern commercial practise of lending money on reasonable interest. But it does suggest that personal loans to fellow-Christians and relatives, and to those in real poverty, to meet personal need, while being willingly given, should not be offered on the basis of obtaining a return.
“Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their fields, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, that you exact of them.”
Nehemiah now calls on them, therefore, to restore to those from whom they had exacted them, their fields, vineyards, oliveyards and houses, together with any liability for interest and return of capital. It was to be a kind of instantaneous year of release and year of Yubile, with all debts cancelled, and all property restored, in order to start the new nation off on the right basis now that Judah was an entity in itself (albeit in the Persian empire).
Some see ‘the hundredth part' as possibly the interest for one moon period, indicating an interest of 12%. If so, this had seemingly been generally agreed previously, and was in fact in terms of those days, very generous. We know that during the Persian period nearer to 20% was usually exacted by money lenders, and often much higher. Nevertheless Nehemiah called for it to be cancelled. In other words that part of the loans which had not yet been repaid were to be looked on as gifts, and the interest being exacted had to be cancelled.
But this may be a little too technical. The description may rather suggest a different rate. It may well be that each moon period they were expected to return one hundredth part of the money, thus slowly paying off the loan, plus one hundredth part of whatever was produced.
‘Then they said, “We will restore them, and will require nothing of them, so will we do, even as you say.”
To the credit of the wealthy Jews their response was positive. They would restore all property, cancel all debts, and cease exacting interest, in accordance with Nehemiah's suggestion. Any who had reservations on the matter, as there would almost inevitably have been, were seemingly ashamed to go against the generosity of the majority. We can understand how this would have given the workers on the walls a new impetus, and how it would have raised Nehemiah's authority among the poor (the majority). It will be noted that nothing is said about the provision of food for the poorest (Nehemiah 5:2) but that was not part of the long term deal which was being recorded here. Provision was no doubt made for that. It could hardly have been overlooked.
‘Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they would do according to this promise.'
Nehemiah then called on them to confirm what they had promised on oath before the priests. This made the whole thing legally binding. From then on they could not go back on it. This was not a sign that he did not trust them, but a making of the whole arrangement legal, removing any qualms that anyone might have, and any danger of anyone later changing their mind. It made the arrangement firm and sure. Were anything to arise in the future these priests and their fellows would also be the judges.
‘Also I shook out my lap, and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, who does not fulfil this promise. Even thus be he shaken out, and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen,” and praised YHWH. And the people did according to this promise.'
Nehemiah then made a symbolic act by ‘shaking out his lap' (we would say ‘turned out his pockets') declaring ‘so may God shake out from their house and from their work any who does not fulfil his promise'. Personal items were carried in a fold of the cloak, held in by a belt. It was these that he shook out as a prophetic gesture. Such an overt act was seen as sealing whatever had been spoken, and as guaranteeing the carrying out by God of any penalty.
That those gathered did not see it as a rebuke, but as a sealing of the position comes out in their response. All were in agreement and all said ‘Amen' and praised YHWH. They clearly saw it as a new beginning, and rejoiced in a new unity. Dissension among them had been removed. And finally we are assured that all the people did as they had promised. All cooperated in carrying out Nehemiah's proposals.