John Trapp on Nehemiah 5:12

Verſe 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 be alike.

We will require nothing of them] But be of thoſe that lend, looking for nothing againe, Luke 6. no not the principal.

So will we do as thou haſt ſaid] Denying our ſelves, 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 ſolemne an oath, and to bear witneſſe 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 Jewes, Jer. 34.10, 11. retracted and repealed their vow. It was therfore well and wiſely done of Nehemiah to bind them thus to the good abearance; as Aſa and Joſiah had done before him. An oath is an hedge which a man may not break; which yet that great Heteroclite of Rome maketh a ſport of. For when the Cardinals meet to chuſe 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 [non-Latin text not transcribed], that lawleſſe, yokeleſſe, maſterleſſe monſter Saint Paul ſpeaketh of, 2 Theſ. 2.8?