The interpretation timeline

Neh 5:16

How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.

From the early Church Fathers to now.

1 Jewish · 1 Reformed · 1 Methodist · 1 Catholic

Neh 5:16 · Douay-Rheims
“Moreover I built in the work of the wall, and I bought no land, and all my servants were gathered together to the work.”
Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500
1105
A.D.
Rashi Jewish
1040–1105
“wall the wall of the city. I adhered I busied myself to engage in it constantly. and we did not buy a field But neither I nor my associates bought the fields of the Jews who were building the wall because of their poverty; they were engaged in building the wall, but I gave them money in order to build the wall. over the work to build constantly.”
Source
666 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
Post-Reformation c. 1650 – 1900
1771
A.D.
John Gill Reformed
1697–1771
“Moreover, there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers,.... Every day at his own cost, which must be considerable to provide for such a number, and of such rank: besides those that came unto us from among the Heathen that are about us; who were proselytes, and came thither to worship, or on a civil account, to give intelligence, and take directions.”
Source
1832
A.D.
Adam Clarke Methodist
1762–1832
“Neither bought we any land - Neither he nor his officers took any advantage of the necessities of the people, to buy their lands, etc. He even made his own servants to work at the wall.”
1849
A.D.
1774–1849
“Wall, pleading no exemption, but making my servants work. (Calmet) — Though no particular portion was assigned to him, he helped all. (Tirinus) — No land, as I might have done, on advantageous terms. (Haydock) — Rare example of disinterestedness! He praises himself without vanity, only to induce others to follow the same course. So Moses, David, St. Paul, and others acted, Numbers xii. 3., &c.”
Source
Modern · 1953 →

The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.