Charles Ellicott Commentary Nehemiah 5:3

"Some also there were that said, We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses: let us get grain, because of the dearth." — Nehemiah 5:3 (ASV)

Because of the dearth. —Not any particular famine, strictly speaking, but their present hunger. The past mortgages had constrained their resources.