Nehemiah 4:16
Ver. 16. And it came to pass from that time forth,.... That they were thus alarmed of danger from their enemies:
that the half of my servants wrought in the work; of building the wall; his domestic servants, his guards, or mighty men, as Jarchi, men of war, the soldiers:and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows; some offensive, others defensive weapons; some to fight with at a distance, others near at hand:and the habergeons; coats of mail, which they took and clothed themselves with:and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah; the Jews that were working at the wall, to animate and encourage them, protect and defend them. Nehemiah 4:17Ver. 17 They which builded on the wall,.... That laid the mortar and stones upon it, and timber where it was necessary:and they that bore burdens; that carried the mortar, stones, and timber to the builders, and served them:with those that laded; which prepared the above for them, and laid them on their shoulders:everyone with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon; which is not to be understood strictly and literally, for without both hands they could not well perform either of the above works; but proverbially, signifying that they were intent on both working and fighting, and were ready and prepared to do the latter, as well as the former, having weapons lying by them, or girt about them, as is explained in the following verse. Nehemiah 4:18Ver. 18. For the builders had everyone his sword girded by his side, and so builded,.... Thus accoutred he wrought, and was prepared for either service:and he that sounded the trumpet was by me; to give the alarm of war, that everyone might lay aside his work, and prepare for the battle: this officer stood by Nehemiah, that when he found it necessary, might give him orders to sound his trumpet, for the men to gather to him. Nehemiah 4:19Ver. 19. And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people,.... See Gill on "Ne 4:14",the work is great and large; the building of the wall all around the city of Jerusalem:and we are separated upon the wall one far from another; some at work on one part of it, and some at another, so that the distance between one another, at least in the further part, was very considerable. Nehemiah 4:20Ver. 20. In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet,.... Be it what part of the wall soever they were at work, even the most distant:resort ye thither to us; to Nehemiah, and the half of his servants armed, where the trumpet was blown; that was to be the place of rendezvous:our God shall fight for us; and give us victory over our enemies; none have any reason to be intimidated, when they shall hear the sound of the trumpet. Nehemiah 4:21Ver. 21. So we laboured in the work,.... Of building the wall: and half of them held the spears; and other weapons before mentioned, Ne 4:16from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared; that is, from morning to evening, the space of time the builders and labourers worked. Nehemiah 4:22Ver. 22. Likewise at the same time said I unto the people,.... That were at work upon the wall:let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem; every builder had a servant, or a lad, as the word signifies, to wait upon him, to bring mortar or stone, or what he wanted; and some of these builders, with their lads, came out of the country towns and villages in the morning, and returned at night; now Nehemiah proposed, for the safety of the city and its walls, that for the present they would lodge in Jerusalem:that in the night they may be a guard unto us, and labour on the day; might help to protect them in the night, should they be surprised with the enemy, and be ready for their work in the daytime. Nehemiah 4:23Ver. 23. So neither I, nor my brethren,.... The nobles and rulers:nor my servants; his domestic servants that waited upon him:nor the men of the guard which followed me; his bodyguard, which attended him as a commissioner of the king of Persia for state and grandeur:none of us put off our clothes; at night when they laid themselves down to sleep, but laid in, them, that they might be ready upon an alarm made:saving that everyone put them off for washing; not for common washing, because dirty, but for washing on account of ceremonial uncleanness, which required washing both of bodies and garments, see Le 15:5, &c. and the Vulgate Latin version expresses it by baptism, as the apostle calls such ceremonial ablutions in Heb 6:2. It is in the margin of our Bibles, "everyone went with his weapon for water"; when he went to Siloam, or any other place, for water, he took a weapon with him to defend himself upon occasion; which is no bad sense of the words. Noldius {g} renders the words, "everyone with his weapon (and) water"; both were at his bolster, ready, if wanted, see 1Sa 26:11.{g} Ebr. Concord. Partic. p. 322.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.