Albert Barnes Commentary Nehemiah 5:2

"For there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many: let us get grain, that we may eat and live." — Nehemiah 5:2 (ASV)

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 grain, and eat and live." Compare (Nehemiah 5:5).