Then he sends for the nobles and all those who had oppressed the people,
and he gives them very plainly his mind on the matter:

'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