Nehemiah 5:2

2 yea, there are who are saying, `Our sons, and our daughters, we -- are many, and we receive corn, and 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 And there is a great cry of the people and their wives, concerning their brethren the Jews,

2 yea, there are who are saying, `Our sons, and our daughters, we -- are many, and we receive corn, and eat, and live.'

3 And there are who are saying, `Our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, we are pledging, and we receive corn for the famine.'

4 And there are who are saying, `We have borrowed money for the tribute of the king, [on] our fields, and our vineyards;

5 and now, as the flesh of our brethren [is] our flesh, as their sons [are] our sons, and lo, we are subduing our sons and our daughters for servants, and there are of our daughters subdued, and our hand hath no might, and our fields and our vineyards [are] to others.'