Catholic Commentary on Nehemiah 5

"What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?" (Nehemiah 5:9)

Nehemiah Defends the Poor

The poorer Jews are in economic distress: they are mortgaging fields and vineyards to buy food during a famine; they are borrowing money at interest to pay the king's tax; they are selling their children into slavery to pay debts, with no power to redeem them because their fields and vineyards belong to others. Nehemiah is angry when he hears this. He rebukes the nobles and officials: what you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? He demands they return the fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses and stop charging interest. They agree. He calls the priests and makes the nobles take an oath to do what they promised, shaking out his robe as a prophetic gesture: so may God shake out of their house and possessions anyone who does not keep this promise. Nehemiah himself does not use his governor's allowance and feeds 150 people at his table daily from his own resources.

The Catechism identifies Nehemiah's economic reform as the application of the Deuteronomic laws of the seventh year and the Jubilee to the post-exilic community: the wall cannot be built on the exploitation of the poor (CCC 2449).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the community was building the wall while exploiting its own poor members. Nehemiah stopped both to address the injustice. The building project that proceeds on unjust economic foundations will not stand. Address the exploitation first. Then the wall.

Prayer

Lord God, give your Church leaders who stop the building project to address the economic exploitation happening among the builders. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

5
Nehemiah Defends the Oppressed
1 About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.
 
2 Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”
 
3 Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.”
 
4 Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. 5 We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
 
6 When I heard their outcry and these complaints, I became extremely angry, 7 and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!”
 
So I called a large assembly against them 8 and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!”
 
But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say.
 
9 So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our foreign enemies? 10 I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending the people money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury. 11 Please restore to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and oil that you have been assessing them.”
 
12 “We will restore it,” they replied, “and will require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.”
 
So I summoned the priests and required of the nobles and officials an oath that they would do what they had promised. 13 I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake out of His house and possession every man who does not keep this promise. May such a man be shaken out and have nothing!”
 
The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.
Nehemiah’s Generosity
 
14 Furthermore, from the day King Artaxerxes appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from his twentieth year until his thirty-second year (twelve years total), neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.
 
15 The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver.* 5:15 40 shekels is approximately 1 pound or 453.6 grams of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people, but I did not do this because of my fear of God. 16 Instead, I devoted myself to the construction of the wall, and all my servants were gathered there for the work; we did not acquire any land.
 
17 There were 150 Jews and officials at my table, besides the guests from the surrounding nations. 18 Each day one ox, six choice sheep, and some fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine was provided. But I did not demand the food allotted to the governor, because the burden on the people was so heavy.
 
19 Remember me favorably, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.

*5:15 5:15 40 shekels is approximately 1 pound or 453.6 grams of silver.

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