Nehemiah 5:12

12 They responded, "We'll return it and not try to get it from them [again]. We'll do what you say." Then I called the priests and made them swear to do what they promised.

Nehemiah 5:12 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 5:12

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.

Nehemiah 5:12 In-Context

10 My brothers, my servants, and I are lending money and grain to the poor. But we must stop charging them interest.

11 You must return their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their homes today. Also, you must return the interest on the money, grain, new wine, and olive oil you've been charging them."

12 They responded, "We'll return it and not try to get it from them [again]. We'll do what you say." Then I called the priests and made them swear to do what they promised.

13 I brushed off my clothes and said, "In the same way, may God brush off from home and work everyone who refuses to keep this promise. In the same way, may everyone be brushed off and left with nothing." Then the whole congregation said amen and praised the LORD. The people did what they had promised.

14 During the 12 years that I was governor of Judah, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' reign to the thirty-second year of his reign, my brothers and I never ate any food that was paid for by the governor's food allowance.