a great cry. So there were troubles within as well as without. Compare 2 Corinthians 7:5.
the people. the common people, in contrast with the nobles and rulers (Nehemiah 5:7), who had returned with Nehemiah.
Related Commentaries of Nehemiah 5:1
Nehemiah 5:1
1 And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.