Nehemiah 4:1–23 had provided a picture of the opposition that Jerusalem’s rebuilders were experiencing from enemies outside their own circle. The text immediately before this one added that there was also deep brokenness and distrust within the city’s community, as the (financially) stronger among the Judeans were taking advantage of the vulnerable (Nehemiah 5:1–5). Nehemiah took firm action to rectify this injustice and to prompt the people to function as one body in brotherly care (Nehemiah 5:6–13). In the present paragraph Nehemiah lays out how he himself generously gave of his means to bless another and so provide an example for the people to follow.
14 Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor.