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Nehemiah 5:6-8
New English Translation
Nehemiah 5:6-8
New English Translation
6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these complaints.[a] 7 I considered these things carefully[b] and then registered a complaint with the wealthy[c] and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral[d] from your own countrymen!”[e] Because of them I called for[f] a great public assembly. 8 I said to them, “To the extent possible we have bought back our fellow Jews[g] who had been sold to the Gentiles. But now you yourselves want to sell your own countrymen,[h] so that we can then buy them back!” They were utterly silent, and could find nothing to say.
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- Nehemiah 5:6 tn Heb “words.”
- Nehemiah 5:7 tn Heb “my heart was advised upon me.”
- Nehemiah 5:7 tn Heb “nobles.”
- Nehemiah 5:7 tn Heb “taking a creditor’s debt.” The Hebrew noun מַשָּׁא (mashaʾ) means “interest; debt” and probably refers to the collateral (pledge) collected by a creditor (HALOT 641-42 s.v.). This particular noun form appears only in Nehemiah (5:7, 10; 10:32); however, it is related to מַשָּׁאָה (mashaʾah, “contractual loan; debt; collateral”) which appears elsewhere (Deut 24:10; Prov 22:26; cf. Neh 5:11). See the note on the word “people” at the end of v. 5. The BHS editors suggest emending the MT to מָשָׂא (masaʾ, “burden”), following several medieval Hebrew mss; however, the result is not entirely clear: “you are bearing a burden, a man with his brothers.”
- Nehemiah 5:7 tn Heb “his brothers.”
- Nehemiah 5:7 tn Heb “I gave.”
- Nehemiah 5:8 tn Heb “our brothers, the Jews.”
- Nehemiah 5:8 tn Heb “your brothers.”
New English Translation (NET)
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