’I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother.’

And thereby they had broken the law, for no Jew was allowed to take interest, or increase, of another Jew, much less to exact usury:  see Exod. xxii. 25; Ezek. xviii. 8, 17.

The Hebrew was to look upon every other Hebrew as his brother, and to treat him as such.  There was to be brotherly love in time of misfortune, such love as would prevent the receiving of increase from the one who was in trouble.  With regard to the mortgaging of land, it does not seem that these rich men had actually broken the law, such pledges were allowed, provided that the property mortgaged was returned in the year of jubilee.  But, whilst they had not broken the letter of the law, these Jews had certainly acted in a hard, self-seeking way, showing no sympathy whatever for the sorrows of those around them.

How different was this from the generous conduct of Nehemiah himself!  All the time of his government he drew no taxes or contributions from the people over whom he ruled, as other governors did, and as his predecessors in Jerusalem had done.  Eastern governors in those days, like Turkish governors now, were accustomed to farm their provinces.  That is to say, the king allowed them no salary, but he put the taxation of the people in their hands.  A certain fixed sum was to be sent to him every year from the province; and whatever the governor could grind or squeeze out of the people, over and above this stated amount, went into his own pocket and formed his salary.  Jerusalem now-a-days rings with many a cry of distress caused by the unjust means used by the pacha to increase his stipend by putting fresh burdens on the people.  The former Jewish governors had made as much as forty shekels a day, or L1,800 a year out of the people in their province.  But when Nehemiah came to Jerusalem, he found the people so poverty-stricken and oppressed that he would not take a single penny for himself.  It is probable that his salary as cup-bearer had been continued, and on this he lived and kept his household going all the time of his government.  Not only so; not only did Nehemiah pay all his private expenses, but he kept open house for the people of Jerusalem; every day 150 of the rulers and chief men dined with him, besides all the visitors to Jerusalem, Jews from other countries, strangers from foreign nations who were staying but a short time in the city, all of whom were invited to the governor’s house, and sat down at the governor’s table.

Nehemiah himself gives us his daily bill of fare, ver. 18.

1 ox. 6 fat sheep.  Fowls without number.  A fresh supply of wine of all kinds stored in every tenth day.

It was no small expense to have above 150 men to dinner daily, yet for all this Nehemiah took not a penny from his province, so touched was he to the heart by the poverty of the people.  Not only so, but