Nehemiah 5:2

Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — During a famine, unnamed Jewish families voice their distress to wealthy fellow Jews and the community leadership after an initial public outcry over economic hardship. They state that their large households require immediate grain to prevent starvation.

The words — The term אֹמְרִ֔ים ('o.me.Rim) marks a sustained public declaration, while רַבִּ֑ים (ra.Bim) literally means "many," quantifying the size of their families. These lexical choices anchor the complaint in both vocal protest and demographic pressure.

The thread — This survival-driven demand for grain parallels the widespread migration to Joseph in Genesis 41:57 and stands in direct tension with the covenant promise of eating the fruit of one's labor in Psalms 128:2. The structural failure described here anticipates the warning of divine cursing for covenant neglect in Malachi 2:2.

Why it lands — The verse documents how famine forces families to trade future security for immediate survival. It requires readers to evaluate whether community structures protect vulnerable households or accelerate their economic collapse.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְיֵשׁ֙ve./Yeshand/ there אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sher[were those] who אֹמְרִ֔ים'o.me.Rim[were] saying בָּנֵ֥ינוּba.Nei./nusons/ our וּבְנֹתֵ֖ינוּu./ve.no.Tei./nuand/ daughters/ our אֲנַ֣חְנוּ'a.Nach.nuwe רַבִּ֑יםra.Bim[are] many וְנִקְחָ֥הve./nik.Chahand/ let us get דָגָ֖ןda.Gangrain וְנֹאכְלָ֥הve./no.khe.Lahso/ we may eat וְנִחְיֶֽה׃ve./nich.Yehand/ we may live

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Psalms 128:2 For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.
Malachi 2:2 If 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 your blessings. Yes, I have already begun to curse them, because you are not taking it to heart.
Genesis 41:57 And every nation came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.
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.”
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.
Psalms 127:3 Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.