Nehemiah 5:1–5 communicates the divisions arising among the people. Within this paragraph, Nehemiah 5:1 introduces the problem; Nehemiah 5:2–4 gives us details of three specific complaints (each complaint beginning with the same phrase; see Nehemiah 5:2, Nehemiah 5:3, Nehemiah 5:4); Nehemiah 5:5 describes the only desperate and tragic option available to the population.
Nehemiah 5:6–13 relates Nehemiah’s response, with two subsections: Nehemiah 5:6–11 gives us Nehemiah’s analysis and subsequent action, while Nehemiah 5:12–13 tells us of the people’s response.
1 Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.