Nehemiah 5:1

Nehemiah Helps Some Poor People

1 Some men and their wives cried out against their Jewish brothers and sisters.

Nehemiah 5:1 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 5:1

And there was a great cry of the people, and of their wives,
&c.] Those of the poorer sort:

against their brethren the Jews;
the rich that oppressed them; and this cry or complaint was made to Nehemiah for redress.

Nehemiah 5:1 In-Context

1 Some men and their wives cried out against their Jewish brothers and sisters.

2 Some of them were saying, "We and our sons and daughters have increased our numbers. Now there are many of us. We have to get some grain so we can eat and stay alive."

3 Others were saying, "We're being forced to sell our fields, vineyards and homes. We have to do it to buy grain. There isn't enough food for everyone."

4 Still others were saying, "We've had to borrow money. We needed it to pay the king's tax on our fields and vineyards.

5 We belong to the same family lines as the rest of our people. Our sons and daughters are as good as theirs. But we've had to sell them off as slaves. Some of our daughters have already been made slaves. But we can't do anything about it. That's because our fields and vineyards now belong to others."