Nehemiah 5:3

Nehemiah 5:3 [Some] also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.

Ver. 3. We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, &c. ] Lands they had, but were little the better for them. Husbandry they had neglected to give attendance upon buildings; neither were they able to stock and store their grounds, and so are forced to part with them at an underrate price. This is many a poor man’s case among us, who yet are little pitied, or relieved, unless it be with a little mouth mercy, as in St James’s days, James 2:15-16 . Oppressors will be but as friends at a sneeze; the most you can get of them is, God bless you; like they are (many of them) to Darius, who prayed God to help Daniel, but sent him to the lions’ den.