Nehemiah 5:12

Neh 5:12 Then said they, We will restore [them], and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.

Ver. 12. Then said they, We will restore them] This was well said; and Nehemiah took course it should be as well done, ne dicta factis erubescerent, as Tertullian phraseth it; that their saying and doing might he alike.

And will require nothing of them] But be of those that lend, looking for nothing again, no, not the principal, Luk 6:35.

So will we do as thou sayest] Denying ourselves, and all worldly lusts, that we may get and keep a good conscience, that most precious jewel that ever the heart of man was acquainted with.

Then I called the priests] As fittest to tender so solemn an oath, and to bear witness in a case of that nature.

And took an oath of them] That is, of them that had promised restitution; that they might not start back, nor repent them of their good resolutions. Our hearts are deceitful, and must be by all good means held up to duty, Quo teneas vultus mutantem Protea nodo? else they will slip collar, as those slippery Jews, Jer 34:10-11, retracted and repealed their vow. It was therefore well and wisely done of Nehemiah to bind them thus to the good behavior; as Asa and Josiah had done before him. An oath is a hedge which a man may not break; which yet that great deviate of Rome maketh a sport of. For when the cardinals meet to choose a new pope, they make him swear to certain articles. And Sleydan saith, that no sooner is he chosen but he breaks them all, and checks their insolencies, as if they went about to limit his power, to whom all power is given in heaven and earth. Is not this that ανομος, that lawless, yokeless, masterless monster St Paul speaketh of; 2Th 2:8.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 5:12. Then said they, We will restore them — Namely, the houses and lands; and require nothing — Demand no interest. Thus he got a promise from them, and proceeded afterward to bring them under the obligation of an oath to do as they had promised. Then I called the priests — As witnesses; that the oath being taken before the priests, who acted in God’s name, it might make the more deep and durable impression upon their consciences.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:12 made the nobles and officials swear: Both God and the community would hold them accountable.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(12) We will restore.—The promise was given to restore the mortgaged property and to require no more interest. But Nehemiah required an oath to give legal validity to the procedure, and the priests’ presence gave it the highest religious sanction.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. Nehemiah’s audience comply with his request. ‘We will restore’ refers to the fields, vineyards, oliveyards and houses seized in default of payment or as pledges; ‘will require nothing’ refers to the usury, i.e. the interest already due upon the sums borrowed.

as thou sayest] R.V. even as thou sayest.

Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them] Nehemiah takes measures publicly to bind the money-lenders before the impression had passed away. He summoned the priests to administer the oath. Thus the engagement was undertaken in the presence of public witnesses. The presence of the priests added to the solemnity of the transaction, and was of additional importance, since the priests were entrusted with judicial functions and would have to decide questions between debtor and creditor. On the judicial functions of the priests and their duties outside the Temple cf. Neh_11:16; 1Ch_23:4; 1Ch_26:29.

took an oath of them] ‘Them’ refers not to the priests, but to the money-lenders. Nehemiah bound them by an oath which the priest solemnly administered, Ezr_10:5.

according to this promise] ‘Promise,’ as also in Neh_5:13; literally ‘this word.’ The Hebrew language has no distinct word for ‘promise,’ cf. 1Ki_8:56, ‘there hath not failed one word of all his good promise’ (lit. ‘good word’). Psa_105:42, ‘For he remembered his holy word’ (A.V. ‘promise’). In Psa_77:8, ‘Doth his promise fail for evermore?’ the expression used is different, and is more like our ‘saying’ or ‘utterance.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Also I shook my lap,.... The fore skirts of his garment, shaking the dust out of them, as a symbol of what follows; a like rite was used in the case of peace and war, the choice of either, by the Romans, as proposed by their ambassadors to the Carthaginians, as having either in their bosom to shake out (l):

and said, so God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour; what he has got by his labour:

that performeth not his promise; confirmed by an oath:

even thus be he shaken out, and emptied; of all that he has in the world, and out of the world too, as Jarchi adds:

and all the congregation said, Amen; so let it be, even those that had taken pledges and usury, as well as others:

and praised the Lord; that had given them such a governor to direct, advise, and exhort them to their duty, and had inclined their hearts to attend thereunto:

and the people did according to this promise; they punctually kept it, and the oath they had sworn.

(l) Florus, l. 2. c. 6. Liv. l. 21. c. l8.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Oath of them. Priests, in private, (Menochius) who were not innocent; (Tirinus) or these were witnesses of the oath taken by the rich. (Piscator)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

We will restore them, to wit, the lands and houses.

Will require nothing of them, for the hundredth part.

I called the priests; either,

1. As delinquents in that kind; or rather as witnesses, that the oath being taken before the priests, who acted in God’s name and stead, the oath might make the more deep and durable impression upon their consciences. See Num 5:19; 1Ki 1:8,31,32.

Took an oath of them; not of the priests last mentioned, for it doth not appear that any of them were guilty, and it is absurd to think that they only were guilty of this extortion, as they must be, if this them belongs to them only; but of all the persons who were before charged with this crime, Neh 5:3,4, whether priests or others, as is evident from the text, and from the nature of the thing.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. We will… require nothing of them — They volunteer now not only to restore what they had taken unlawfully, but even to take no interest at all. They will try to make some amends for past wrongs by relinquishing all claims even for legal interest.

I called the priests — To witness the oath of the offenders, and also to give dignity and solemnity to the occasion.

Compare Deu_17:8-10; 2Ch_19:8-10.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then they said, We will restore them. Nehemiah"s eloquence prevailed, and brought about a "day of sacrifices." The nobles, one and all, agreed not only to give back the interest that they had illegally received on the corn and money borrowed of them, but to restore the forfeited lands and houses, which must have been of far greater value, and to which they were by law fully entitled. "We will restore them," they said, and will (in future) require nothing of them, neither interest nor security, but will do as thou sayest." The promise was sweeping in its terms, and probably not insincere; but Nehemiah mistrusted all sudden impulses. He would have something more than a promise. Then called I the priests, and took an oath of them (the nobles), that they should do according to this promise. i.e. he swore the nobles, in the sacred presence of the priests, to the performance of the promise which they had made.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Require - For the hundredth part. Priests - As witnesses; that the oath being taken before the priests, who acted in God's name, the oath might make the more deep and durable impression upon their consciences.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Then they said

Here "they" refers to the Jewish leaders.

We will return what we took from them

The Jewish leaders are saying they will return the money which the poorer Jews paid in interest charges.

made them swear

Here the word "them" refers to the Jewish leaders.

Then I called

"I" refers to Nehemiah.

I shook out the fold of my robe

"I shook out the pockets of my robe." Many times in the Old Testament, oaths were physically demonstrated as a witness to what was promised. Nehemiah is demonstrating to the Jewish leaders what will happen if they break the promise they had made. (See: Symbolic Action)

So may God shake out of his house ... So may he be shaken out and emptied

Here Nehemiah speaks of God taking away all of a man's possessions as if God were shaking him out of his home and possessions like Nehemiah shook out his robe. AT: "So may God take away from every man who does not keep his promise all of his possessions and his home like I have taken everything out of the fold of my robe" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

priest

oath

promise

robe

God

possess

promise

assembly

amen

praise

Yahweh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And they said, “We shall return” And they said [that they were willing] to return and to relinquish all.

to do according to this promise that they too should relinquish.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.