The third group was composed of those who had enough for food, but paying the king’s tax created a hardship for them. Darius had instituted a fixed annual land tax on fields and vineyards based on the average harvest yield from the land (Williamson 1985). This meant that the same amount of tax had to be paid even when there was a famine. The amount was increased by Xerxes to pay for his military campaigns. The taxes had to be paid in silver and gold, and the money was taken out of the province. This created a shortage of capital for expenditures and investment and depressed the economy.

We have borrowed money for the king’s tax upon our fields and our vineyards: There are two ways to understand the relationship between borrowing the money and the fields and vineyards. Some versions understand the money to be borrowed against the fields and vineyards. That is to say that the land was mortgaged in order to obtain money for taxes (so Nouvelle version Segond révisée, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Others understand the tax to have been imposed upon the land (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). Both are probably right since in the Persian Empire there was a fixed annual land tax that had to be paid and the landlords may have mortgaged their land in order to be able to pay the taxes on their lands. Translators are advised to follow the interpretation in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

Good News Translation calls the king’s tax a “royal tax” (also New Jerusalem Bible). For a general discussion of royal revenue, see Ezra 4.13.

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 .