John Trapp on Nehemiah 5:8

Verſe 8. And I ſaid unto them, We after our ability] This he ſpeaketh not in a vainglorious vaunting way, or to curry favour with the people, but to convince the contraryminded of their inhumanity to their poor brethren. Good works, ſaith Chryſoſtome, are unanſwerable ſyllogiſmes; invincible demonſtrations to confute, and convert thoſe that do otherwiſe. Let your works ſo ſhine before men, &c.

Which were ſold unto the heathen] This they did in obedience to the Law, Deut. 25.47, 48.

And will you even ſell your brethren?] There was no reſiſting of ſuch a rational reproof, no whit imbittered (as the manner is) with wrath or ſpite; but carried on with ſo much modeſty and moderation.

Or ſhall they be ſold unto us?] He makes himſelf a party, becauſe of the ſame body politick.

Then held they their peace, and found nothing to anſwer] Such is the majeſty of a reproof rightly adminiſtred: it even gags the offendour, as Matth. 22.12. and renders him ſelf-condemned, Tit. 3.11. Scipio with his countenance only, quelled and quieted his ſeditious ſouldiers. Alexander the Great, and after him Auguſtus Caeſar, and Severus the Emperour did the ſame, with a few quick words. Adrianus Boxſchafius, Preacher of the Word at Antwerp, hearing a certain Monk railing at Luther out of the Pulpit, Scu'tet. Annal. Tell me, ſaid he, thou perverſe Monk, and that openly before all this people, where, and when, and in what points Luther hath erred? The Monk thus accoaſted, anſwered not a word, but gat him out of the Pulpit, and fled away as faſt as he could, and never came again into that Countrey.