Nehemiah 5:3

Nehemiah 5:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.
• New International Version (NIV)Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)There were also those who said, "We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine."
• New King James Version (NKJV)There were also some who said, “We have mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses, that we might buy grain because of the famine.”

Context of Nehemiah 5:3

1Now there was a great outcry of the [poorer] people and their wives against their Jewish brothers [to whom they were deeply in debt]. 2For there were some who were saying, “We, along with our sons and our daughters, are many; therefore allow us to get grain, so that we may eat and survive.” There were others who were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to buy grain because of the famine.” 4There were also others who were saying, “We have borrowed money on our fields and vineyards for the [Persian] king’s [heavy] tax. 5Now our flesh (skin) is the same as that of our brothers (relatives), and our children are like their children, yet here we are forcing (selling) our sons and our daughters to be slaves; and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are powerless [to redeem them] because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

Nehemiah 5:3 word by word

וְיֵשׁ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֹמְרִ֔ים שְׂדֹתֵ֛ינוּ וּכְרָמֵ֥ינוּ וּבָתֵּ֖ינוּ אֲנַ֣חְנוּ עֹרְבִ֑ים וְנִקְחָ֥ה דָגָ֖ן בָּרָעָֽב׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• also there wereיֵשׁyêsh · thereH3426
• that saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• We have mortgagedעָרַב‛ârab · to pledgeH6148
• our landsשָׂדֶהώâdeh ώâday · land: countryH7704
• vineyardsכֶּרֶםkerem · vineyardH3754
• and housesבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• that we might buyלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• cornדָּגָןdâgân · grainH1715
• because of the dearthרָעָבrâ‛âb · famineH7458

Cross-references for Nehemiah 5:3

• Genesis 47:15And when the money was exhausted in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die before your very eyes? For our money is gone.”
• Leviticus 25:35‘Now if your fellow countryman becomes poor and his hand falters with you [that is, he has trouble repaying you for something], then you are to help and sustain him, [with courtesy and consideration] like [you would] a stranger or a temporary resident [without property], so that he may live among you.
• Deuteronomy 15:7“If there is a poor man among you, one of your fellow Israelites, in any of your cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not be heartless, nor close-fisted with your poor brother;
• Malachi 3:8“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings [you have withheld].

Commentaries on Nehemiah 5:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Because of the dearth - About the time of Zerubbabel, God had sent a judicial dearth upon the land, as we learn from Haggai, Haggai 1:9, etc., for the people it seems were more intent on building houses for themselves than on rebuilding the house of the Lord: "Ye looked for much, and, lo, it is come to little; because of mine house that is waste; and ye run, every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3Some small landowners had mortgaged everything to survive. The famine worsened the problem because grain was scarce and food prices naturally rose.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-51-5. there was a great cry of the people ... against their brethren--Such a crisis in the condition of the Jews in Jerusalem--fatigued with hard labor and harassed by the machinations of restless enemies, the majority of them poor, and the bright visions which hope had painted of pure happiness on their return to the land of their fathers being unrealized--must have been very trying to their faith and patience. But, in addition to these vexatious…Read the comment

Topics related to Nehemiah 5:3

• Borrowing
• Country
• Covetousness
• Creditor
• Debt
• Debtor
• Homestead
• House
• Interest
• Land
• Lending
• Mortgage
• Poor
• Repentance
• Rich, the
• Tax
• Usury

In the dictionaries

• Jubilee
• Shake
• Famine
• Get; Getting
• Malachi
• Mortgage
• Poverty
• Salvation
• Surety
• Tax; Taxing

Commentaries on Nehemiah 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings