Nehemiah 5:3

Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Others in the post-exilic community report to Nehemiah during a famine that they are surrendering their agricultural land and dwellings to secure food.

The words — The Hebrew עֹרְבִים ('o.re.Vim) literally means "mortgaging" or "pledging as security," describing the legal act of using property as collateral. The phrase שְׂדֹתֵינוּ וּ/כְרָמֵינוּ וּ/בָתֵינוּ (se.do.Tei./nu u./khe.ra.Mei./nu u./va.Tei./nu) explicitly lists the assets being traded: fields, vineyards, and houses.

The thread — The text records property surrender during famine in Genesis 47:15, while Leviticus 25:35 establishes the legal boundary against exploiting such destitution.

Why it lands — The verse demands recognition of how immediate survival needs override long-term inheritance, showing that economic desperation forces families to trade their ancestral land for daily bread.

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 שְׂדֹתֵ֛ינוּse.do.Tei./nufields/ our וּכְרָמֵ֥ינוּu./khe.ra.Mei./nuand/ vineyards/ our וּבָתֵּ֖ינוּu./va.Tei./nuand/ houses/ our אֲנַ֣חְנוּ'a.Nach.nuwe עֹרְבִ֑ים'o.re.Vim[are] mortgaging וְנִקְחָ֥הve./nik.Chahand/ we will get דָגָ֖ןda.Gangrain בָּרָעָֽב׃ba./ra.'Avin the/ famine

King James Version

Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.

Cross-references

Leviticus 25:35 Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you.
Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.
Genesis 47:15 When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our funds have run out!”
Deuteronomy 15:7 If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.