Nehemiah 10:32

"and if the peoples of the land bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and that we would forego the seventh year crops and the exaction of every debt."

Key Reflection

Nehemiah 10:32 addresses the observance of the Sabbath and the seventh year, known as the sabbatical year in ancient Israelite law (Leviticus 25:1-7). The original audience would have understood this passage as a commitment to adhere strictly to these holy days and agricultural cycles. By vowing not to buy from others on the Sabbath or during the seventh year, the people were reaffirming their dedication to maintaining purity in their worship and economic practices, ensuring that no work was done on these sacred days and that debts were forgiven at the end of the sabbatical year as commanded by God.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

The third part of a sheckel -This appears to have been the first occasion on which an annual payment toward the maintenance of the temple service and fabric was established. The half-shekel of the LawExodus 30:13was paid only at the time of a census (which rarely took place), and was thus not a recurring tax. In later times, the annual payment was raised from the third of a shekel to half a shekelMatthew 17:24.

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