Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.
Parallel translations
- WEB There were also some who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute using our fields and our vineyards as collateral.
- KJV There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.
- NKJV There were also those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our lands and vineyards.
- NASB There also were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards.
- NLT And others said, “We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Still others have borrowed money against their fields and vineyards to pay the king's tax. Imperial tribute adds to their crushing debt.
Overview
The Persian king's required tribute forces families to mortgage their land merely to pay taxes. Layered upon famine and food costs, this burden pushes them toward losing everything. The verse exposes how external obligations and internal exploitation together threatened to destroy the inheritance God had given His people in the land.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ezra 4:13Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.
- Ezra 4:20And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.
- 1 Kgs 9:21their descendants who remained in the land, those whom the Israelites were unable to devote to destruction—Solomon conscripted these people to be forced laborers, as they are to this day.
- Deut 28:47–48Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
- Ezra 7:24And be advised that you have no authority to impose tribute, duty, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
- Josh 16:10But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.
- Neh 9:37Its abundant harvest goes to the kings You have set over us because of our sins. And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please. We are in great distress.
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 5:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.