Nehemiah 5:1-19 (Presbyterian, 5:1-9)

Nehemiah Deals with Economic Hardships

5:1 Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish kin. 2 For there were those who said, "With our sons and our daughters, we are many; we must get grain, so that we may eat and stay alive." 3 There were also those who said, "We are having to pledge our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the famine." 4 And there were those who said, "We are having to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay the king's tax. 5 Now our flesh is the same as that of our kindred; our children are the same as their children; and yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are powerless, and our fields and vineyards now belong to others."

6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints. 7 After thinking it over, I brought charges against the nobles and the officials; I said to them, "You are all taking interest from your own people." And I called a great assembly to deal with them, 8 and said to them, "As far as we were able, we have bought back our Jewish kindred who had been sold to other nations; but now you are selling your own kin, who must then be bought back by us!" They were silent, and could not find a word to say. 9 So I said, "The thing that you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God, to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? 10 Moreover I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us stop this taking of interest. 11 Restore to them, this very day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the interest on money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them." 12 Then they said, "We will restore everything and demand nothing more from them. We will do as you say." And I called the priests, and made them take an oath to do as they had promised. 13 I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, "So may God shake out everyone from house and from property who does not perform this promise. Thus may they be shaken out and emptied." And all the assembly said, "Amen," and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.

The Generosity of Nehemiah

14 Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. 15 The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people, and took food and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. 16 Indeed, I devoted myself to the work on this wall, and acquired no land; and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17 Moreover there were at my table one hundred fifty people, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations around us. 18 Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowls were prepared for me, and every ten days skins of wine in abundance; yet with all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because of the heavy burden of labor on the people. 19 Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people. (Nehemiah 5:1-19, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with revision and supplement from October 30, 2005 (the Sunday closest to November 2, Year One):

In yesterday’s reading we learned about opposition to Nehemiah’s work from outsiders, Sanballat and others, in the form of intimidation (Neh. 4:1-3. 11) and plots to “fight against Jerusalem and cause confusion in it” (v. 8). With strengthened security measures, Nehemiah and his people were able to overcome this opposition. But another obstacle is reported in today’s reading, problems within the Jewish community itself. Nehemiah reports “a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish kin” due to famine and related issues (5:1). Some people, says Nehemiah, were saying, “"With our sons and our daughters, we are many (MyB9r1, rabbîm); we must get grain, so that we may eat and stay alive” (v. 2). It has been suggested that one letter has dropped out and that we should read Myb9r4fo, ‘ōr^evîm (“pledges”), for MyB9r1, rabbîm (“many”) ( R. Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, 22^nd ed., 1937, apparatus on Neh. 5:2). On that basis, Tamara Cohn Eskenazi says, “We are many [should read], alternatively, as ‘pledge’ (see v. 3), suggesting that sons and daughters are pledged as security for loans and become slaves when loans are defaulted” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Neh. 5:2; cf. David J. A. Clines, HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Neh. 5:2; cf. also v. 5). If not their sons and daughters, they (perhaps others) were “having to pledge our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the famine” (v. 3). For others, the issue was the imperial tax burden. “We are having to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay the king's tax” (v. 4). The suggestion above that sons and daughters were given in pledge to borrow money for necessities is confirmed, for the people say, “Now our flesh is the same as that of our kindred; our children are the same as their children; and yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been ravished; we are powerless, and our fields and vineyards now belong to others” (v. 5). These issues, according to Eskanazi, result in “indentured slavery and loss of land and home to wealthier compatriots,” and she adds, about the term “Ravished, [that] daughters were particularly vulnerable at times of economic hardship” (on v. 5). (We are reminded of similar atrocious abuses, even in our “enlightened, modern” world.)

Nehemiah, “very angry,” intervenes personally upon hearing “their outcry and these complaints” (v. 6). He thinks it over and brings charges against the nobles and officials, saying: “You are all taking interest from your own people” (v. 7a). He calls a great assembly (q^ehillāh g^edôlāh) “to deal with them” (v. 7b). He says, “As far as we were able, we have bought back our Jewish kindred who had been sold to other nations; but now you are selling your own kin, who must then be bought back by us!” (v. 8a). These officials were stunned into silence. “They were silent, and could not find a word to say” (v. 8b). And Nehemiah continues with a stern rebuke: “"The thing that you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God, to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? “ (v. 9).

Nehemiah admits to some lending himself, saying, “Let us stop this taking of interest” (Neh. 5:10). “Nehemiah helps the nobles save face by admitting a measure of responsibility” (Eskenazi, on v. 10). Nehemiah instructs them to restore “their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards and there houses, and the interest on money, grain, wine, and oil” (v. 11), which they agree to do: “We will restore everything and demand nothing more from them. We will do as you say” (v. 12a). Nehemiah says, “I called the priests, and made them [the nobles and officials] take an oath to do as they had promised” (v. 12b). According to Eskenazi, “Nehemiah calls upon the priests to “administer a religiously binding oath to ensure the efficacy of the appended curses” (on v. 12, cf. 13). Nehemiah himself emphasizes the oath by shaking “out the fold of his garment,” and saying, “So may God shake out everyone from house and from property who does not perform this promise. Thus may they be shaken out and emptied” (v. 13a). This oath, including the sanctioning curses, is ratified as “all the assembly said, ‘Amen,’ and praised the LORD” (v. 13b). And we are told that “the people did as they had promised” (v. 13c).

Nehemiah further provides an example of leadership in difficult times, “even to the point of refusing what is legally his allotment” (Hindy Najman, The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, p. 1695, on Neh. 5:14-19). He did not eat “the food allowance of the governor” (v. 15b). Though former governors did so, he does not lay “heavy burdens on the people” or “lord it over” them (v. 15a). He devotes himself to “the work on the wall” (v. 16) and feeds 150 people at his table (v. 17), which requires “one ox and six choice sheep,” and fowls daily, “and every ten days skins of wine in abundance” (v. 18).

or Ezra 1:1-11 (alternative reading, Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions)

For text and comments on this reading, see the presentation for October 25, 2007 (Thursday in the week before last).

Acts 20:7-12

Paul's Farewell Visit to Troas

7 On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were meeting. 9 A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead. 10 But Paul went down, and bending over him took him in his arms, and said, "Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him." 11 Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left. 12 Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive and were not a little comforted. (Acts 20:7-12, NRSV)

On August 11, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 3, Year One), comments on Acts 20:1-16 were repeated with some editing and supplement from September 30, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 21, Year Two). The following comments on verses 7-12 are selected and adapted from the earlier comments:

Within this context (Acts, chap. 20), Luke does not name himself, but uses first person pronouns, “we,” “us” (vv. 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 15). It would appear that Luke joined Paul at Philippi (vv. 5-6). Christopher R. Matthews notes that the previous “we” passage ended at Philippi (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Acts 20:5, with reference to 16:17). At Troas, after “we met to break bread,” Paul’s after-dinner speech continued until midnight “since he intended to leave the next day” (v. 7), providing the first known occasion when someone fell asleep during a sermon. “A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead” (v. 9). Paul is able to reassure the people He goes down, bends over Eutychus, and says, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him” (v. 10). This is reported as a serious miracle, but someone has seen humor in the situation. The journal Christianity Today used to carry a series of cartoons bearing the heading “Eutychus and his Kin.” Matthews calls this event “an understated miraculous resurrection” with reference to 14:19-20 (on 20:10). With this interruption the conversation is extended. “Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left” (v. 11). Those who “had taken the boy away alive . . . were not a little comforted” (v. 12).

Luke 12:22-31

On May 26, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year One), comments were repeated from November 3, 2006 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year Two), when comments were combined with revision from October 29, 2004, two years earlier (Friday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year Two), and from October 30, 2005 (the Sunday closest to November 2, Year One). Those comments are repeated again here. Comments on the passages from the perspective of Matthew’s version, Matthew 6:25-34, were presented recently, in the Archive for October 1, 2007 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 28, Year One):

G. W. H. Lampe draws a lesson: the “teaching on God’s providential care implies detachment from worldly concerns and covetousness” (G. W. H. Lampe, Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, sec. 729c on Lk 12:15-21). “The necessary condition of the assurance of God’s providential care is that one should be seeking the Kingdom, which God will give to disciples” (Lampe on v. 30). As noted above, this teaching on care and anxiety (vv. 22-34) has a parallel version in Matthew (Mt. 6:25-34, 19-21). For much of these passages, the verbal agreement is almost verbatim, more so in some respects in Greek. Matthew’s word “Gentiles” (Mt. 6:32) correctly translates ethnē, but the same word with the added phrase “of the world” (ethnē tou kosmou, Lk. 12:30) is correctly translated “nations [of the world].” Each Evangelist apparently had his audience in mind. If Matthew can apply Jesus’ advice not to be anxious because God “will clothe you” to a Jewish [i.e. not Gentile] audience, and Luke can apply it to “the nations of the world,” then we have the right to claim it for ourselves, don’t we?

The table presented above compares the versions of this teaching on not being anxious in Matthew and in Luke. This passage from Luke is very similar to the parallel passage in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (chap. 6). In the above table, above the line (Mt. 6:25-34; Lk 12:22-32), differences are highlighted with bold type. Below the line (Mt. 6:19-21; Lk. 12:33-34), similarities are highlighted. The order of the two units is reversed in Matthew, and they are separated by the saying about the Healthy Eye (Mt. 6:22-23; Lk. 11:34-36) and the saying on Serving Two Masters (Mt. 6:24; Lk. 16:13), sayings found in different parts of Luke.

Both Matthew’s and Luke’s versions of the teaching about not being anxious call for strong faith in the providence of our heavenly Father. Neither should be understood to suggest that we be presumptuous and fail to do our part in these matters. But there is a strong emphasis on spiritual priorities. “Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well” (Lk. 13:31). “But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mt. 6:33). The Sermon on the Mount emphasizes righteousness (Mt. 5:6, 10, 20; 6:33). Luke’s passage comes immediately after the Parable of the Rich Fool (Lk. 12:16-21), which in turn follows a warning about greed (Lk. 12:13-15), both of which are found only in Luke.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net