And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.
Nehemiah's great anger broke out while the wall of Jerusalem was still unfinished, when he heard the cry of the poorer classes. Their distress came from scarcity of grain, because tillage had been neglected in the unsettled state of the country and because the selfish course of some who had returned kept the Lord's blessing from resting on their land. 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, while wealthier fellow Jews took advantage of their necessities to enrich themselves. That unjust dealing left them in debt and loss of property, with children forced into service.
The cry was caused by breaking God's laws for caring for the poor, which commanded a tithe every third year for the benefit of the poor and a suspension of farm work every seventh year, with the land lying fallow and its free produce left to those in need. Faithfulness in these gifts for the poor and other good uses would have kept before the people that God owns all and that they may be channels of blessing, rooting out selfishness and building breadth and nobility of character. God had forbidden acting toward a poor borrower as an usurer by charging interest on money, food, or anything lent, and had commanded not to harden the heart or shut the hand from a poor brother but to open the hand wide and lend enough for his need, because the poor would never cease out of the land.
The verse records indignation and great anger in response to cruel injustice, exploitation, and oppression suffered by his own people at the hands of their fellow Jews. His anger reflected religious integrity and faithfulness to God and the principles of His law, refusing to tolerate even slight oppression. Before acting he took time to consider the matter in order to secure justice and relief.
His anger meant a decided stand for justice was necessary to break up the oppressive custom of exaction, so with energy and determination he set to work to bring relief to his brethren, uninfluenced by the wealth of the oppressors or by their needed support in restoring the city. He sharply rebuked the nobles and rulers and gathered a great assembly of the people to set God's requirements before them. Standing boldly in defense of the poor and oppressed, he exercised his authority unselfishly to obtain redress for their wrongs and caused the wrongdoers to remove the reproach resting on them. The same authority he used unselfishly for his downtrodden countrymen he afterward refused to use in his own behalf to punish ingratitude and treachery against himself.
Nehemiah's great anger broke out while the wall of Jerusalem was still unfinished, when he heard the cry of the poorer classes. Their distress came from scarcity of grain, because tillage had been neglected in the unsettled state of the country and because the selfish course of some who had returned kept the Lord's blessing from resting on their land. 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, while wealthier fellow Jews took advantage of their necessities to enrich themselves. That unjust dealing left them in debt and loss of property, with children forced into service.
The cry was caused by breaking God's laws for caring for the poor, which commanded a tithe every third year for the benefit of the poor and a suspension of farm work every seventh year, with the land lying fallow and its free produce left to those in need. Faithfulness in these gifts for the poor and other good uses would have kept before the people that God owns all and that they may be channels of blessing, rooting out selfishness and building breadth and nobility of character. God had forbidden acting toward a poor borrower as an usurer by charging interest on money, food, or anything lent, and had commanded not to harden the heart or shut the hand from a poor brother but to open the hand wide and lend enough for his need, because the poor would never cease out of the land.
The verse records indignation and great anger in response to cruel injustice, exploitation, and oppression suffered by his own people at the hands of their fellow Jews. His anger reflected religious integrity and faithfulness to God and the principles of His law, refusing to tolerate even slight oppression. Before acting he took time to consider the matter in order to secure justice and relief.
His anger meant a decided stand for justice was necessary to break up the oppressive custom of exaction, so with energy and determination he set to work to bring relief to his brethren, uninfluenced by the wealth of the oppressors or by their needed support in restoring the city. He sharply rebuked the nobles and rulers and gathered a great assembly of the people to set God's requirements before them. Standing boldly in defense of the poor and oppressed, he exercised his authority unselfishly to obtain redress for their wrongs and caused the wrongdoers to remove the reproach resting on them. The same authority he used unselfishly for his downtrodden countrymen he afterward refused to use in his own behalf to punish ingratitude and treachery against himself.