Obligation 2—No Commercial Trade on the Sabbath or a Holy Day. This was a pledge that the people would not engage in commercial activities with the peoples of the land on religious holidays. It is assumed that the Jewish people themselves understood the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy (Exo 20.8-11; Deut 5.12-15) and that they prohibited trade among themselves. This obligation extends the command to refer to trade with others, and to festival days. They are not only not to sell on the Sabbath, as previously prohibited (see Amos 8.5), but buying is also to be considered “work” and thus not allowed on the Sabbath. This extension of the law dealt with a problem that the Jews were experiencing at that time (see Neh 13.15-22).
If the peoples of the land bring in wares or any grain … to sell, we will not buy from them …: This is a simple condition: if one thing occurs, something else will occur as a direct result. In this case the result will be a negative one: “if they bring … we will not buy.”
The Hebrew word translated wares or “goods” (Contemporary English Version) occurs only here in the Old Testament and its exact meaning is not known. It is often translated as “merchandise” (so Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Darby). It should be distinguished from grain, which is a generic word for seed crops (see Neh 5.2, where a similar word is used in Hebrew). The translator may use very general terms, such as “for-sale items and any crops.”
For sabbath and holy day, see Neh 8.9-10; 9.14.
Obligation 3—Keeping the Law of the Seventh Year. This was a pledge to let the land lie fallow (that is, uncultivated) and to forgive the debts of a fellow Jew every seventh year. This is based on a combination of the regulations in Exo 23.10-11 and Deut 15.1-3. The combination of the law about the fallow year and the law about the remission of debts brings equality between the farmers and merchants; that is, both the farmers and the merchants are obliged to give up something. The complaints of the poor in Neh 5 may have led to the implementation of this law.
We will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt: Forego means to go without something or to not seek to acquire or to claim something. In Hebrew both crops and exaction are the objects of the verb forego. In many languages it will be necessary to restructure this part of the verse as Good News Translation has done to make the meaning clear. Two different verbs may then be used, one for not seeking to acquire crops through farming, and the other for not seeking to recover debts that are owed to the person.
We will forego the crops of the seventh year does not mean that they will not harvest their crops every seventh year, but that they will not farm their land and plant crops at all during the seventh year (so Contemporary English Version). Good News Translation makes the meaning explicit. Bible en français courant uses a metaphorical expression: “Every seventh year, we will leave the soil in rest.”
In Hebrew the exaction of every debt is literally “loan of every hand,” referring to the hand that holds a document proving that someone owes them a debt. Exaction of a debt means to force someone to repay a debt. La Bible des Communautés Chrétiennes refers to money debts and Revised English Bible refers to persons who are held as pledges for debt, but the Hebrew text does not specify a particular debt. It can be restated in current English as Good News Translation has done with “we will cancel all debts.” Other expressions may also be used, for example, “we will renounce our claim to all debts” (so Bible en français courant), “we will remit all debts,” and “we will forgive all debts.” In some languages figures of speech may be used, such as “we will kill all debts for our debtors.”
Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .