Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Nehemiah 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.

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.’

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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 Gods 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.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

Then said they, we will restore them,…. The lands, vineyards, oliveyards, and houses:

and will require nothing of them; not the hundredth part of the fruits of the earth by way of salary:

so will we do as thou sayest; they approved of his proposal, and readily agreed to it:

then I called the priests, and took an oath of them that they should do according to this promise; not that the priests were delinquents, they were not charged with anything of this kind, nor were they the men that promised restitution; but the priests were called to administer the oath to the nobles, and rulers, and rich men, to oblige them the more to keep their word; an oath being sacred, priests in an holy office were made use of to give it, that it might be the more solemn, and the more strictly regarded.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(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.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

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.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

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 , that lawless, yokeless, masterless monster St Paul speaketh of; 2Th 2:8 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

as = according as.

called: i.e. as witnesses.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

We will restore: 2Ch 28:14, 2Ch 28:15, Ezr 10:12, Mat 19:21, Mat 19:22, Luk 19:8

I called: Neh 10:29, Neh 13:25, 2Ki 23:2, 2Ki 23:3, 2Ch 6:22, 2Ch 6:23, 2Ch 15:13, 2Ch 15:14, Ezr 10:5, Jer 34:8-10, Mat 26:63

Reciprocal: 2Ki 11:4 – took an oath 2Ki 11:17 – made a covenant 2Ch 23:16 – made a covenant Mat 6:12 – as

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

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 Gods name, it might make the more deep and durable impression upon their consciences.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments