Nehemia 5:4

5:4 Then there were those who said, “We have borrowed money to pay our taxes to the king ¹  on our fields and our vineyards.

Nehemia 5:10

5:10 Even I and my relatives ²  and my associates ³  are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral! ⁴ 

Nehemia 5:15

5:15 But the former governors who preceded me had burdened the people and had taken food and wine from them, in addition to ⁵  forty shekels of silver. Their associates were also domineering over the people. But I did not behave in this way, due to my fear of God.

[5:4]  ¹ tn Heb “for the tax of the king.”

[5:10]  ² tn Heb “brothers.”

[5:10]  ³ tn Heb “lads.”

[5:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “this debt.” This expression is a metonymy of association: “debt” refers to the seizure of the collateral of the debt.

[5:15]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew term אַחַר (’akhar) is difficult here. It normally means “after,” but that makes no sense here. Some scholars emend it to אַחַד (’akhad) and supply the word “day,” which yields the sense “daily.” Cf. TEV “40 silver coins a day for food and wine.”