Neh 5:11 | TNotes | STEP | 5:11 Nehemiah demanded that the rich lenders restore their fields and repay the interest (literally the hundredth part ), which they should not have collected (see also Exod 22:25 ; Lev 25:35-37 ). The literal hundredth part suggests that the interest was one percent per month, lower than the twenty percent annual rate found in some documents of that time, or the sixty percent annual rate charged at Elephantine in Egypt. But even a relatively low rate of interest violated God’s covenant.

bExod 22:25►

cLev 25:35-37►

‏ Nehemiah 5:11

5:11 ^a Nehemiah demanded that the rich lenders restore their fields and repay the interest (literally the hundredth part), which they should not have collected (see also Exod 22:25 ^b; Lev 25:35-37 ^c). The literal hundredth part suggests that the interest was one percent per month, lower than the twenty percent annual rate found in some documents of that time, or the sixty percent annual rate charged at Elephantine in Egypt. But even a relatively low rate of interest violated God’s covenant.