Nehemiah 5:7

and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Nehemiah speaks to the nobles and officials of Israel immediately after hearing their outcry and complaints about economic hardship. He convenes a large assembly to publicly confront them regarding their exploitation of fellow Jews.

The words — The phrase וַיִּמָּלֵךְ לִבִּי עָלַי (va-yi-mmalēḵ libbî ʿalay) literally renders "my heart turned to counsel," indicating deliberate reflection before action. The verb וָאָרִיבָה (va-ʾārîḇâ) translates to "I contended" or "I rebuked," denoting a formal moral confrontation.

The thread — The prohibition against charging interest to fellow Israelites appears in Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25:36, and Deuteronomy 23:19. Nehemiah applies this covenant law to a contemporary economic crisis, framing usury as a direct violation of kinship obligations.

Why it lands — The text states that leaders are exploiting their own brothers through usury and must be publicly rebuked. It requires readers to reject financial practices that harm covenant community members and to prioritize communal survival over personal gain.

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

וַיִּמָּלֵ֨ךְva/i.yi.ma.Lekhand/ it considered לִבִּ֜יli.B/iheart/ my עָלַ֗י'a.La/iwith/ me וָאָרִ֙יבָה֙va./'a.Ri.va/hand/ I contended/ !אֶת־'et-with הַחֹרִ֣יםha./cho.Rimthe/ nobles וְאֶת־ve./'Etand/ with הַסְּגָנִ֔יםha./se.ga.Nimthe/ officials וָאֹמְרָ֣הva./'o.me.Ra/hand/ I said/ !לָהֶ֔םla./Hemto/ themמַשָּׁ֥אma.Sha'usury אִישׁ־'ish-each בְּאָחִ֖יוbe./'a.Chi/von/ brother/ his אַתֶּ֣ם'a.Temyou נֹשְׂאִיםno.Sim[are] lending וָאֶתֵּ֥ןva./'e.Tenand/ I made עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם'a.lei./Hemon/ them קְהִלָּ֥הke.hi.Lahan assembly גְדוֹלָֽה׃ge.do.Lahgreat

King James Version

Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them.

Cross-references

Leviticus 25:36 Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.
Deuteronomy 23:19 Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan.
Exodus 22:25 If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest.
Leviticus 19:15 You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
Deuteronomy 15:2 This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed.
Deuteronomy 24:10 When you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect security.
2 Chronicles 19:6 Then he said to the judges, “Consider carefully what you do, for you are not judging for man, but for the LORD, who is with you when you render judgment.
Psalms 15:5 who lends his money without interest and refuses a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.
Ezekiel 22:12 In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.
2 Chronicles 28:9 But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the LORD, the God of your fathers, has delivered them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.