Nehemiah 5:2

2 For there were those who said, "We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us ¹get grain that we may eat and live."

Nehemiah 5:2 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 5:2

For there were that said, we, our sons, and our daughters, are
many
Not that they complained of the number of their children, for a numerous offspring was always reckoned a blessing with the Jews; but this they observed to show that their families, being large, required a considerable quantity of food to support them:

therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat and live;
that is, they were obliged to take it at an exorbitant price, which is the thing complained of; or otherwise they must starve, the rich taking the advantage of their poverty and present dearth.

Nehemiah 5:2 In-Context

1 Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.

2 For there were those who said, "We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live."

3 There were others who said, "We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine."

4 Also there were those who said, "We have borrowed money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards.

5 "Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others."

Cross References

• 1. Haggai 1:6