Nehemiah 9:37 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings, &c. We plough, and sow, and labour, and thou givest thy blessing to our endeavours; and yet in a great measure this is not for ourselves, as formerly it was, but for our kings, to whom we pay heavy tributes. Also they have dominion over our bodies Which are liable to be pressed, to serve in the king's wars, or in his works. And over our cattle at their pleasure Our cattle are liable to be made use of, when there is occasion to employ them about the king's business. And we are in great distress Though we are permitted to live by our own laws, which we account a great privilege, yet we lie under these public burdens, and are compelled to bear them. Thus, as Mr. Peters observes, this prayer contains a beautiful epitome of the history of the Jews, raised and animated by a spirit of devotion, which appears in all that moving eloquence so well suited to the great occasion; and, at the same time, with all that chasteness and correctness of thought and expression, which so eminently distinguish the sacred writings of this sort from all merely human compositions.