Nehemiah 5:1

1 About this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews.

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 About this time some of the men and their wives raised a cry of protest against their fellow Jews.

2 They were saying, “We have such large families. We need more food to survive.”

3 Others said, “We have mortgaged our fields, vineyards, and homes to get food during the famine.”

4 And others said, “We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes.

5 We belong to the same family as those who are wealthy, and our children are just like theirs. Yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others.”