About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.
We have here the tears of the oppressed, which Solomon considered, Ecc 4:1. Let us consider them as here they are dropped before Nehemiah, whose office it was, as governor, to deliver the poor and needy, and rid them out of the hand of the wicked oppressors, Psa 82:4. Hard times and hard hearts made the poor miserable. I. The times they lived in were hard.
Commenting on Nehemiah 5:1-5
And there was a great cry of the people, and of their wives,.... Those of the poorer sort: against their brethren the Jews; the rich that oppressed them; and this cry or complaint was made to Nehemiah for redress.
And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. (a) Against the rich who oppressed them.