II. Nehemiah's Method of Correcting the Social Evils in the Community. Nehemiah's address recorded in the fifth chapter of his memoirs completes the picture suggested in Isaiah 56 and 58. The poor had been compelled by their poverty to sell their children into slavery to the rich and ruling class. In order to pay their personal taxes they had also mortgaged their inherited fields, vineyards, and houses. Doubtless much of the tax thus raised went into the pockets of their rulers, who preyed mercilessly upon the helpless and needy. These crimes directly violated the laws of Deuteronomy (cf. Deut. 23:9, 20), as well as those in the older Book of the Covenant (Ex. 21-23). Nehemiah's position, therefore, when he demanded that these evils be righted, was unassailable. In the spirit and with the methods of the earlier prophets he gathered together the people, probably within the precincts of the temple court, and plainly and unsparingly denounced their acts. There is much in common between this later Jewish layman and the shepherd Amos. Each spoke on the basis of close personal observation and experience; but Nehemiah possessed many advantages over the prophets who had preceded him. His own personal example lent force to his words. Although it was his right as governor, he had exacted no tribute from the Judean community. Even though the opportunity had probably offered itself, he steadily refused to take their hereditary land from the poor who applied to him for loans of money or grain. Instead of enslaving his countrymen, he had lost no opportunity to free those who had been forced by misfortune or poverty into slavery. He had also entertained lavishly rich and poor alike, and thus given to all an example of practical charity. His authority as Persian governor doubtless carried great weight with the cringing, greedy leaders at Jerusalem. Above all, the force of his personality was irresistible. It is easy to imagine the powerful impression which his words made upon them. The restoration of their lands and the freeing of their children were undoubtedly mighty factors in arousing the men of Jerusalem to those herculean efforts which alone made possible the rebuilding of the walls in the brief period of fifty-two days.