Nehemiah 4:14

And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, [which is] great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

Ver. 14. And I looked, and rose up] Et vidi, et surrexi, et dixi, so the original runs. He saw the enemy a-coming, he started up, and he made this excellent exhortation; which puts me in mind of that which one once said of Julius Caesar, If you had never known him to have been a soldier, yet hear him but speak only, and you will conclude him to be one, Si acta eius penitus ignorasses, per linguam tanten militem esse diceres.

And said unto the nobles] In a short but pithy oration; such as was that of Joab, 2 Samuel 10:12, of which Pellican saith, Non potuit vex duce dignior cogitari, as brave a speech as a man could make; or that of Hunniades, about to join battle with the Turks (see Turk. Hist. fol. 272); or, lastly, that of the Prince of Orange at the battle of Newport; where they had the sea on one side and the Spaniards on the other. If, said he, you will live, you must either eat up these Spaniards or drink up this sea. So here, Either you must fight lustily, or all you have is forfeited assuredly.

Be not ye afraid of them] Away with that cowardly passion, which unmans a man, et rectum tollit de cardine mentem, robs him of all power and policy.

Remember the Lord] Whom he that feareth needs fear none else. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower," &c.

Who is great and terrible] For the defence of his people, and offence of his enemies. The Lord is a man of war, Exodus 15:3. Yea, he alone is a whole army of men, van and rear both, Isaiah 52:12; and may better say to his soldiers than Antigonus did to his, when they were afraid of the enemy's numbers, How many do ye reckon me for?

And fight for your brethren] Whether by race, or religion.

Your sons, and your daughters] Those φιλτατα, as the Greeks call them; Charissimi, as the Latins; dearest pledges.

Your wives, and your houses] In the last commandment houses are set first before wives, because a house is to be first provided; neither will a wise man take a wife before he hath a house. Here wives are set before houses; because far more precious, and a main part of a man's self, Ephesians 5:28. House and riches are the inheritance of the fathers, but a prudent wife is of the Lord, Proverbs 19:14. She was one of the first real and royal gifts bestowed by God upon Adam. By the way note, that if men may fight for their civil right to their houses and lands, have they not as good warrant to fight for their religion, especially since they have the laws of the land for it; and, besides, a civil right at least to the outward peaceable profession and practice of it? The Athenians themselves, though their religion was no better than superstition, Acts 17:22, yet they bound themselves, by a public and solemn oath, to defend it to the utmost. The words of the oath were these: I will fight for the temples and holy rites, both alone and with others, Aμυνω δε και υπεο ιεοων και υπερ οσιων και μονος και μετα πολλων ..