How does Nehemiah 5:10 address the issue of usury among the Israelites? Text of Nehemiah 5:10 “And likewise I, my brothers, and my servants have been lending them money and grain. Please let us forego this interest.” Immediate Literary Context Nehemiah 5 describes a financial crisis during the wall-building project (ca. 445 BC). Famine (v. 3), heavy Persian taxation (v. 4), and crop-pledged mortgages (vv. 3, 5) forced many Judean families into debt. Wealthy nobles loaned capital but exacted “interest” (neshek) and seized land and even sons and daughters as bond-servants. Nehemiah, governor under Artaxerxes I, convened a public assembly (v. 7) and called the lenders to repentance (vv. 9–12). Verse 10 records his self-implicating confession and immediate directive: “Let us abandon this interest.” Mosaic Prohibition of Usury Among Covenant Members • Exodus 22:25—“If you lend money to My people… you are not to charge him interest.” • Leviticus 25:35-37—Aid must be given “without interest, without profit.” • Deuteronomy 23:19—“You must not charge your brother interest.” The covenant distinguished foreign commerce (Deuteronomy 23:20) from intracommunity benevolence; the family bond of Israel demanded generosity, not exploitation. Prophetic Echoes • Psalm 15:5 praises the one “who does not lend his money at interest.” • Ezekiel 18:8, 13; 22:12 list interest-taking among sins provoking exile. Nehemiah stands in the same prophetic stream: covenant unfaithfulness in economics invites divine judgment. Nehemiah’s Threefold Strategy in 5:10 1. Personal Example—“I… have been lending” admits participation; leadership repents first. 2. Corporate Solidarity—“my brothers and my servants” widens responsibility; communal sin needs communal redress. 3. Immediate Action—“Please let us forego this interest.” The imperative (naʿ-ʿazbâ) cancels ongoing accruals and, as vv. 11-12 show, restores confiscated collateral (fields, vineyards, olive groves, houses, and the hundredth-part interest). Covenantal Theology Behind the Command Yahweh redeemed Israel from slavery without payment (Exodus 15:13). To re-enslave kin through debt contradicted redemption’s pattern. Forgoing interest mirrored divine grace and proclaimed God’s character of mercy (Micah 6:8). Economic Safeguards Elsewhere in Torah • Sabbatical Release (Deuteronomy 15:1-11) canceled debts every seventh year. • Jubilee (Leviticus 25) returned ancestral land and freed bond-servants. Nehemiah revives these dormant ordinances, proving the unity of Scripture’s economic ethics. Christological Trajectory The ultimate remedy for spiritual debt occurs in Christ, “who gave Himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:6). Just as Nehemiah canceled financial arrears, Jesus cancels sin’s certificate (Colossians 2:14). Lending without usury foreshadows gospel grace—God gives what we cannot repay (Romans 8:32). Intertestamental and Early Church Continuity 2 Maccabees 10:2 commends Judas Maccabeus for similar covenantal fidelity. In the apostolic era, believers “had all things in common” (Acts 2:44–45), and Paul instructs, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other” (Romans 13:8). Christian fathers (e.g., Basil, Hom. Psalm 14) labeled interest-taking against the poor “robbery.” Historical Plausibility and Archaeological Corroboration Elephantine papyri (fifth-century BC) show Jewish communities under Persian rule using interest-bearing loans, corroborating Nehemiah’s milieu. Ostraca from Arad and Lachish reveal debt-related servitude, confirming the socioeconomic pressures the text depicts. Scriptural narrative aligns with material evidence, underscoring reliability. Practical Application for Today 1. Examine personal and institutional lending practices—are they predatory or compassionate? 2. Prioritize relief for brothers and sisters in Christ (Galatians 6:10). 3. Reflect God’s generosity by open-handed stewardship (Proverbs 19:17; 2 Corinthians 9:7). Conclusion Nehemiah 5:10 addresses usury by calling lenders to immediate cessation of interest, restitution of collateral, and alignment with Torah’s redemptive economics. The verse integrates personal repentance, corporate obedience, and covenant fidelity, prefiguring the gospel’s ultimate cancellation of spiritual debt in Christ. |
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