Nehemiah 5:13

13 Also I shook out the folds of my robe and said, "In this way may God shake out everyone who does not keep his promise. May God shake him out of his house and out of the things that are his. Let that person be shaken out and emptied!" Then the whole group said, "Amen," and they praised the Lord. So the people did what they had promised.

Nehemiah 5:13 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 5:13

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 ^F12:

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Florus, l. 2. c. 6. Liv. l. 21. c. l8.

Nehemiah 5:13 In-Context

11 Give back their fields, vineyards, olive trees, and houses right now. Also give back the extra amount you charged -- the hundredth part of the money, grain, new wine, and oil."

12 They said, "We will give it back and not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say." Then I called for the priests, and I made the important men and leaders take an oath to do what they had said.

13 Also I shook out the folds of my robe and said, "In this way may God shake out everyone who does not keep his promise. May God shake him out of his house and out of the things that are his. Let that person be shaken out and emptied!" Then the whole group said, "Amen," and they praised the Lord. So the people did what they had promised.

14 I was appointed governor in the land of Judah in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes' rule. I was governor of Judah for twelve years, until his thirty-second year. During that time neither my brothers nor I ate the food that was allowed for a governor.

15 But the governors before me had placed a heavy load on the people. They took about one pound of silver from each person, along with food and wine. The governors' helpers before me also controlled the people, but I did not do that, because I feared God.