Nehemiah 10:31

When the people of the land bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on a Sabbath or holy day. Every seventh year we will let the fields lie fallow and will cancel every debt.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The covenant signatories in post-exilic Judah address commercial practices in their community following the temple and wall restoration. They bind themselves to specific economic restrictions to maintain separation from surrounding populations.

The words — עַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ (‘amme ha’arets) literally means “peoples of the land,” identifying the non-Israelite residents who bring merchandise and grain to market. The participle מְבִיאִים (mevi’im) denotes the active bringing of these goods for sale on the Sabbath.

The thread — The prohibition against Sabbath commerce aligns with the rest mandate in Leviticus 23:3 and reflects the market activity Nehemiah later confronts in Nehemiah 13:15. The seventh-year land rest and debt cancellation correspond to the six-year sowing cycle commanded in Exodus 23:10.

Why it lands — The text demands the cessation of market transactions on designated holy days and the periodic relief of financial obligations. It requires readers to prioritize covenantal rest and economic justice over immediate profit.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day: and that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.

Cross-references

Leviticus 23:3 For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.
Nehemiah 13:15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day.
Exodus 23:10 For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,
Exodus 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates.
Jeremiah 17:21 This is what the LORD says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.
Exodus 12:16 On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals—that is all you may do.
Leviticus 16:29 This is to be a permanent statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work—whether the native or the foreigner who resides among you—
Leviticus 23:21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly, and you must not do any regular work. This is to be a permanent statute wherever you live for the generations to come.
Leviticus 23:35 On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly. You must not do any regular work.
Leviticus 25:1 Then the LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,