We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
Because of the sword of the wilderness.
When they left the safety of their cities and went into the countryside, which was now bare and neglected, in order to grow their food, the Israelites were always in danger of Bedouin raiders, or local bandits who were waiting to swoop on them. The population was sparse and there was no organised defence against such raiders. The country was at the mercy of marauders. It made obtaining food a risky, and even fatal, business. ‘At the peril of our lives' is more literally ‘for the price of our soul'.