Nehemiah 5:16

Neh 5:16 Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants [were] gathered thither unto the work.

Ver. 16. Yea, also I continued in the work] He meaneth, saith Lyra, that he wrought with his own hands to draw on others the more, when they should see their governor himself so intent to the work. He was constant at it, and held out till all was finished. And this he recordeth, not out of ostentation, but to show that the love and fear of God constrained him; as it did afterwards Paul, that spiritual builder, who laboured more than they all, and denied himself to bring others to heaven, as himself setteth forth, 2Co 11:1-33. In praising ourselves, our end must be, that our light may be seen, not ourselves seen, Mat 5:16. Men’s praise may be sought, modo tibi non quaeras, sed Christo, Seek not for yourself, but Christ. saith Aretius, so that Christ be thereby set up and served.

Neither bought we any land] As easily we might have done with the surplusage of our revenue; especially if we had exacted the utmost of our right. But public spirits mind not their own interests. Joshua divided the land to Israel, and left none to himself; and that portion that was given him, and he content with, was but a poor one in the barren mountains, as Jerome observes. The late victorious king of Sweden (a second Joshua), in his reprehensory speech to the German plunderers, hath this passage: I protest, before God, that I have not by all this war enriched myself so far as a pair of boots cometh to; yea, I had rather ride without boots than in the least degree enrich myself by the damage of poor people (Mr Clark, in his Life).

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh_5:16

Neither bought we any land.

Nehemiah an example of unworldliness of mind

The people of God maintain a certain unearthly peculiarity throughout all their relationship to earth; they do not become assimilated to the crowd through which they hold the tenor of their way. Like that limpid stream of which we are told that, entering a salt and bituminous lake, it clears its way through the uncongenial waters, untainted and uncommingled, so that it issues forth below as pure as when it entered, so the current of Gods people, passing through the dead sea of this world, does not blend with its waters, but speeds on undefiled to the clear ocean in heaven. Consider how this unworldly spirit will tell on your every-day course.

I. It will restrain you from intimacy, though you cannot avoid intercourse, with the ungodly.

II. You will be distinguished from the world by the moderation with which you will form your plans and prosecute your undertakings.

III. You will show another spirit in the friendships which you form and the associations which you choose.

IV. You will be restrained from that greediness of gain which, more than ever, characterises the world in this present age.

V. You will have a large and open hand for the claims of god, the service of his church, and for the relief of the poor and needy.(Hugh Stowell, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 5:16. Yea, also I continued in the work — Overseeing, directing, and encouraging the workmen, which was my whole business; and this at my own cost. Neither bought we any land — Of our poor brethren, whose necessities gave abundant opportunities of enriching myself by good bargains. And all my servants were gathered unto the work — They also were constantly employed in the same work, and received no pay for their labour, though they could not be so employed without the neglect of my own private business.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 16. Neither bought we any land] Neither he nor his officers took any advantage of the necessities of the people, to buy their lands, &c. He even made his own servants to work at the wall.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(16) I continued.—I repaired: that is, as superintendent. His servants and himself did not take advantage of the people’s poverty to acquire their land by mortgage; they were, on the contrary, absorbed in the common work.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. Yea also I continued in the work, &c.] R.V. marg. ‘Heb. held fast to’. It does not appear certain whether Nehemiah here refers to his continuous supervision of the building or to his personal share in the work of restoration at his own cost of some portion of it. The word rendered ‘continued’ (used in its literal sense of ‘held’ in Neh_4:16) admits of either application.

neither bought we any land] In connexion with the previous and the following clauses, these words should be taken to mean that Nehemiah and his friends were too strenuously occupied to interest themselves in the purchase of lands. Former governors had possibly made investments in good land. Such transactions were incompatible with Nehemiah’s ceaseless devotion to the work. But it is necessary also to regard the words as an allusion to the substance of Neh_5:10. Although they had abundant opportunity to make private gain out of mortgaged property, they withstood the temptation of enriching themselves out of their fellow-countrymen. The word ‘land’ is the same as that which in the Plur. the R.V. has altered to ‘fields’ in Neh_5:3-5; Neh_5:11.

all my servants were gathered] Their work at the wall and in Nehemiah’s employ was too incessant to permit of the inspection of purchaseable land or of its proper cultivation if they had purchased it.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Moreover, there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers,.... Every day at his own cost, which must be considerable to provide for such a number, and of such rank:

besides those that came unto us from among the Heathen that are about us; who were proselytes, and came thither to worship, or on a civil account, to give intelligence, and take directions.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I continued ... land - i. e. - “I took my share in the work of the wall, as general superintendent. I did not take advantage of the general poverty to buy poor men’s plots of ground.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Wall, pleading no exemption, but making my servants work. (Calmet) --- Though no particular portion was assigned to him, he helped all. (Tirinus) --- No land, as I might have done, on advantageous terms. (Haydock) --- Rare example of disinterestedness! He praises himself without vanity, only to induce others to follow the same course. So Moses, David, St. Paul, and others acted, Numbers xii. 3., &c.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

In the work of this wall; overseeing, directing, and encouraging the workmen, which was my whole business; and this at my own cost.

Neither bought we any land of our poor brethren, whose necessities gave me abundant opportunity of enriching myself with good bargains. But I durst not build my house upon other men’s ruins.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. Neither bought we any land — By taking advantage of the distress of the people, as the nobles and rulers had done. Comp. Neh_5:10, note.

My servants… unto the work — And were not allowed to tyrannize over the people. Compare Neh_5:15.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I continued in the work of this wall. Literally, "I repaired," like the others. (Neh_3:4-31) I employed myself not in buying up men"s fields at low prices, and so enriching myself, but in the restoring and repairing of the wall, over which I exercised a constant superintendence. All my servants were gathered thither. See Neh_4:16.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I continued - Overseeing, directing, and encouraging the workmen, which was my whole business; and this at my own cost. Bought - Of our poor brethren, whose necessities gave abundant opportunity of enriching myself with good bargains.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

I also continued

"I" refers to Nehemiah.

we bought

The word "we" refers to Nehemiah and his servants.

all my servants were gathered

This can be stated in active form. AT: "I gathered all of my servants there" (See: Active or Passive)

for the work

"to work on the wall"

150 men

"one hundred and fifty men" (See: Numbers)

At my table were the Jews ... from among the nations who were around us

Nehemiah was responsible for providing food for all of these people. This can be stated clearly. AT: "Also, every day I was responsible to feed at our table the Jews and the officials, 150 people; and we also fed the visitors who came from other countries around us (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

my table

This refers to the governor's table. It was a communal table for the community and for discussion of issues.

officials

government leaders

translationWords

works

servant

Jew

nation

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

wall the wall of the city.

I adhered I busied myself to engage in it constantly.

and we did not buy a field But neither I nor my associates bought the fields of the Jews who were building the wall because of their poverty; they were engaged in building the wall, but I gave them money in order to build the wall.

over the work to build constantly.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.