Because of the dearth. Some, who could not say that their families were large, claimed relief on account, as it would seem, not so much of a present as of a past famine, which had forced them to mortgage their fields, vineyards, and houses.
That Judaea was liable to famines about this time appears from Haggai 1:6, Haggai 1:9-11; Haggai 2:16-19.