"We, the Judæans of Persia," he exclaimed, "have, according to the best of our ability, redeemed our brethren, the Judæans that were sold unto the heathen. And will ye even sell your brethren so that they will be sold again unto us?" he added ironically. So deep was the respect enjoyed by Nehemiah, so weighty his opinion, and so ready were even the great and the rich to hearken to the admonitions of the Law, that they promised forthwith not only to release the enslaved persons, but also to restore the houses, fields and gardens to their owners and to cancel their debts. Nehemiah made use of this favourable mood to administer an oath to the rich, binding them to carry out their promises. This was an important victory gained by the Law, through its representative, Nehemiah, over selfishness. He indeed excelled all others in the example of self-denial which he set to them. Not only did he refuse the revenues due to him, but he advanced money and grain to the poor, and if they were unable to repay it, he relinquished the loans. His relatives and servants behaved in the same generous and unselfish manner. In this way Nehemiah overcame all difficulties, and brought order into the community. The people hung upon his words, and the leading men yielded him obedience. But when the walls of the city were rebuilt and the gates replaced, it appeared that the Levitical gatekeepers, and in fact all the Levites were missing. They had migrated after the destruction of the city, into other parts of the country, because they received no tithes. Altogether, the city was but thinly populated, and many houses were destroyed or deserted. Jerusalem therefore had to be peopled again, and the Temple furnished anew with attendants. It seems that Nehemiah caused a proclamation to be issued to all those who had deserted Jerusalem in the time of its insecurity, and to those who had originally settled in the provincial towns, inviting them to take up their permanent abode in the capital. Many of the noble families at once offered to do this. But as the number of these was too small to repeople Jerusalem, it was determined that the tenth part of the population of the rural districts be called upon to migrate to the capital, and that they be selected by lot. Nehemiah, however, did not think every one worthy of becoming a citizen of the Holy City, least of all those born of mixed marriages. He carefully went through the register of Judæans who had returned from Babylonia, examining the pedigree of each separate family. He conducted the matter with great rigour. Three families, consisting of six hundred and forty-two persons, who could not prove that they were descended from Israelites, were not admitted, and three Aaronide families, who were unable to produce the record of their lineage, were temporarily deprived of the dignity of the priesthood.