Nehemiah 5:14
Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.
The time was when the wall of Jerusalem had not yet been completed, and Nehemiah turned his attention to the unhappy condition of the poorer classes. The country was unsettled and tillage had been neglected, and because of the selfish course of some who had returned to Judea the Lord's blessing was not resting on their land, so that grain was scarce. To feed their families the poor had to buy on credit at exorbitant prices and borrow on interest to pay the heavy taxes imposed by the kings of Persia. Meanwhile the wealthier Jews took advantage of their necessities to enrich themselves and to add to their distress.
This extortion of the poor, to which the verse belongs as part of Nehemiah's rebuke, violated what God had commanded through Moses for relief of the poor. Every third year a tithe was to be raised for the poor, and every seventh year agricultural labor was to cease with the land lying fallow and its spontaneous products left to those in need. No usury was to be taken from a poor brother on money or food or anything lent, but the hand was to be opened wide to lend him sufficient for his need, for the poor shall never cease out of the land. Faithfulness in these offerings would have kept fresh before the people the truth of God's ownership of all and their opportunity to be channels of blessing. It was God's purpose by them to train Israel to eradicate selfishness and to develop breadth and nobility of character.
Nehemiah did not use his authority as governor to take the governor's food allowance for himself. Though he could have demanded contributions for his personal benefit, he instead contributed to relieve the people in their need.