John Gill Commentary Nehemiah 5:4

"There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king`s tribute [upon] our fields and our vineyards." — Nehemiah 5:4 (ASV)

There were also that said
Who though they were able to buy corn for their families without mortgaging their estates: yet, say they,

we have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands
and vineyards ;
for though the priests, Levites, and Nethinims, were exempted from it, yet not the people in common; and some of these were so poor, that they could not pay it without borrowing upon their estates, and paying large usury for it, see (Ezra 6:8) (7:24)