Nehemiah 5:2
in Nehemiah 5Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many: let us get grain, that we may eat and live.
KJV
For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live.
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This verse in Nehemiah 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseWe, our sons, and our daughters, are many - Our families are larger than we can provide for; we are obliged to go in debt; and our richer brethren take advantage of our necessitous situation, and oppress us. The details which are given in the next verse are sufficiently plain.
This site's exposition
there was a great outcry from the people
on Nehemiah 5:1-3
The complaint rises "against their fellow Jews" rather than against Persia. Some have many mouths and no grain: "We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive" (5:2). Others are "mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine" (5:3).
This site's exposition
We and our sons and daughters are numerous
Clarke reads this first group as families with more sons and daughters than grain to feed them, forced to borrow from richer countrymen. Borrowing for grain led to the mortgaged fields of verse 3 and the slavery of verse 5. Hunger came first.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Many - Which is in itself a blessing, but to us is turned into a curse. Take up - We are forced to take up corn, upon unreasonable terms.
For there were that said, we, our sons, and our daughters, are many,....
Those who have great families and little substance must learn to live by faith in God's providence and promise; and those who have little families and great substance must make their abundance a supply for the wants of others. But this was not all: as corn was dear, so the taxes were high; the king's tribute must be paid,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The condition of the poorer inhabitants was indeed deplorable; for, besides the deficient harvests caused by the great rains (Ezr 10:9; also Hag 1:6-11), a dearth was now threatened by the enemy keeping such a multitude pent up in the city, and preventing the country people bringing in provisions.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Are many - A slight emendation brings this verse into exact parallelism with the next, and gives the sense - “We have pledged our sons and our daughters, that we might get corn, and eat and live.” Compare Neh 5:5.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Now the cry of the people and their wives was great The poor people were crying exceedingly.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיֵשׁ֙ | veyesh | and there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | [were those] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֹמְרִ֔ים | ʾomerim | [were] saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בָּנֵ֥ינוּ | baneinu | sons our | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וּבְנֹתֵ֖ינוּ | uvenoteinu | and daughters our | H1323 → | 588 times |
| אֲנַ֣חְנוּ | ʾanachnu | we | H587 → | 120 times |
| רַבִּ֑ים | rabim | [are] many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| וְנִקְחָ֥ה | venikchah | and let us get | H3947 → | 966 times |
| דָגָ֖ן | dagan | grain | H1715 → | 40 times |
| וְנֹאכְלָ֥ה | venokhelah | so we may eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| וְנִחְיֶֽה׃ | venichyeh | and we may live | H2421 → | 282 times |
וְיֵשׁ֙and there
veyeshH3426 →140 times
אֲשֶׁ֣ר[were those] who
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֹמְרִ֔ים[were] saying
ʾomerimH559 →5305 times
בָּנֵ֥ינוּsons our
baneinuH1121 →4930 times
וּבְנֹתֵ֖ינוּand daughters our
uvenoteinuH1323 →588 times
אֲנַ֣חְנוּwe
ʾanachnuH587 →120 times
רַבִּ֑ים[are] many
rabimH7227 →454 times
וְנִקְחָ֥הand let us get
venikchahH3947 →966 times
דָגָ֖ןgrain
daganH1715 →40 times
וְנֹאכְלָ֥הso we may eat
venokhelahH398 →810 times
וְנִחְיֶֽה׃and we may live
venichyehH2421 →282 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Malachi 2:2If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse…
it leads to
- Revelation 14:7
And he said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the One who made the heavens and the earth and the sea…
- Luke 17:18
Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”
- Psalms 69:22
May their table become a snare; may it be a retribution and a trap.
- Psalms 81:11–12
But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
- 1 Peter 4:11
If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through…
- Revelation 14:7
Through
Genesis 42:2“Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”
it leads to
- Genesis 43:8
And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.
- Genesis 43:8
Through
Genesis 43:8And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.
it leads to
- Genesis 42:2
“Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”
- Deuteronomy 33:6
Let Reuben live and not die, nor his men be few.”
- Genesis 42:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Nehemiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.