Another group of complainants articulate their crisis: "Others said, 'We are having to pledge our fields, our vineyards, and our houses in order to get grain during the famine.'" Land pledging indicates that the poor have turned to loans secured by their productive property; the necessity of mortgaging fields and vineyards suggests that the agricultural resources themselves have been inadequate to meet basic needs. This crisis appears to indicate drought or crop failure (indicated by the mention of famine) combined with the economic disruptions caused by the intensive labor demands of the wall project.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse