Nehemiah 5:13
Also I shook my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labour, that performeth not this promise, even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the LORD. And the people did according to this promise.
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 {l}:
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.
{l} Florus, l. 2. c. 6. Liv. l. 21. c. l8.