Rebuke Against Extortion
423
of Judah and had seized all the women and children, intending to keep
them as slaves or to sell them into bondage to the heathen.
Because of the sins of Judah, the Lord had not interposed to prevent
the battle; but by the prophet Oded He rebuked the cruel design of
the victorious army: “Ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah
and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there
not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God?”
2
Chronicles 28:10
. Oded warned the people of Israel that the anger of
the Lord was kindled against them, and that their course of injustice
and oppression would call down His judgments. Upon hearing these
words, the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes
and all the congregation. Then certain leading men of the tribe of
Ephraim “took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were
naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them
to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of
them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees,
to their brethren.”
Verse 15
.
Nehemiah and others had ransomed certain of the Jews who had
been sold to the heathen, and he now placed this course in contrast with
the conduct of those who for the sake of worldly gain were enslaving
[650]
their brethren. “It is not good that ye do,” he said; “ought ye not to
walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our
enemies?”
Nehemiah showed them that he himself, being invested with au-
thority from the Persian king, might have demanded large contributions
for his personal benefit. But instead of this he had not taken even that
which justly belonged to him, but had given liberally to relieve the poor
in their need. He urged those among the Jewish rulers who had been
guilty of extortion, to cease this iniquitous work; to restore the lands
of the poor, and also the increase of money which they had exacted
from them; and to lend to them without security or usury.
These words were spoken in the presence of the whole congrega-
tion. Had the rulers chosen to justify themselves, they had opportunity
to do so. But they offered no excuse. “We will restore them,” they
declared, “and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou
sayest.” At this, Nehemiah in the presence of the priests “took an oath
of them, that they should do according to this promise.” “And all the