Nehemiah 5:12

12 Then they said, "We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say." And I called the priests, and took an oath of them to do as they had 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 Moreover I and my brethren and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us leave off this interest.

11 Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the hundredth of money, grain, wine, and oil which you have been exacting of them."

12 Then they said, "We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say." And I called the priests, and took an oath of them to do as they had promised.

13 I also shook out my lap and said, "So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not perform this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied." And all the assembly said "Amen" and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.

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 Ar-ta-xerx'es the king, twelve years, neither I nor my brethren ate the food allowance of the governor.