EXPOSITION. Ver. 7.-It came to pass, that when "Arabians II here mentioned are the descenJ, BBnbBllBt, and Tobiah, at Samaria, and the ants of a colony which Sargon planted in ArabiBns, and the Ammonites, and the Samaria itself. This, of course, is possible ; Ashdodites, in their respective residences, but they may perhaps have been one of the heard thBt the walls of Jerusalem were desert tribes, induced to come forwal"ll by made up, or "that the (entire) wall of the hope of plunder (Ewald), and influenced Jerusalem was of a (good) height," they were by the Ammonites, their neighbours. wroth. Observe that Tobie.h is here q_uite Ver. 8.-To hinder it. Rather," to do it separated from the nation of the Ammomtes, hurt." The word used is a rare one. Accord- nnd in no way represented as their leader. ing to Gesenius, it has the two senses ot Jee.lousy of Jerusalem on the part of the u error" and " injury.,, Ammonites and Philistines is quite natural ; Ver. 9.-We ... set a watch against them and, if the Arabs are the Edomites, their dBy and night, because of them. Rather, opposition would be equ11lly a matter of "over against them," "opposite to them " course (Ps. cxxxvii. 7 ; Ezek. xxv. 12; -opposite, that is, to the point from which Amos i. 11 ; Obe.d. 10, 14) ; but the Edomites they were expected to make their attack. are not called Ambs in Scripture, nor do Ver. 10. -The strength of the bearers of .Arabs appear very often among the enemies of burdens is decByed. The complaint seems the J ow~. It hus been suggested that the to be, that by the drawing olf of men from ,2 THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. [CH. IV, 7-23.
the ~orking pRrties to act I\S gm,rds, those builders, and (2) those who carried the parti_es mire so wee.kened thRt they could not materials. Of these, the latter did their co1;1nnue the work, the quantity of rubbish work with one hand, while in their other bemg so great. hand they held a weapon ; the former Ver. 12.-If the text is sound, it Mn needed both hands for their emplo:rn_ient, only meR.n that the Jewi, who dwelt in the but even these wore swords in their girdles. outlying towns, in the neighbourhood of Ver. 18.-For the builders. Rather, Ammon, S11,maria, Ashdod, &c., came repeat- "and the (actual) builders "-masons, brick- edly to Jerusalem, and tried to draw off layers, e.nd the like, as distinct from the their contingents, saying to them, "You bearers of burthens, or carriers of mo.terie.l. must return to us." But it is suspected He that sounded the trumpet. The signal- that there is a c>orruption of the origin9.l man. Trumpeters appear both in the words of Nehemiah, and that what he wrote Egyptian and the Assyrian sculptures (see was, that these Jews came repeatedly t,o 'Ancient Monarchies,' vol. i. p. 639, second Jerusalem and warned him of the enemy's ed.; Wilkinson, •Ancient Egyptians,' vol. iL designs. (So Ewald, Houbigant, Dathe, A. p. 260). Clarke, and others.) Ver. 21.- So we laboured : and half of Yer. 13.-Then set I in the lower places them held the spears. This is a summa1-y behind the wall, and on the higher places. of the main points previously related : "So 'J'here is no " and" in the original N ehe- we continued to work ; and one-half of my miah means that in the less elevated places, personal followers continued to keep watch, where the wall was least strong by nature, and t.o hold the spears" (ver. 16). From the he had his men posted on conspicuous spots rising of the morning, &c. This is addi- ";thin the walls, where they could be seen tional, and shows how early the work com- from a distance, and so deterred the enemy menced ea.eh morning, and how late it from advancing. He drew them up after continued. their families, that each man might feel he Ver. 22.-Every one, with his servant. was fighting for his brethren, sons, &c. The material condition of the people had (ver. 14). mnch improved since the return under Ver. 14.-A.nd I looked, and rose up, and Zerubbabel. Then there was only one slave said. A particular occasion seems to be to every six Israelites (Ezra ii 64, 65); spoken of. The allies had joined their now every Israelite had his slave, and many forces; the army was advancing; Nehemiah no doubt a large number. Lodge within had obtained information of the quarter l ernaalem. I. e. " sleep " or " pass the from which the attack was to be expected; night" there, instead of returning to their he had posted his men (ver. 13); when he several villages or towns. That in the night "looked, and rose up," and spoke, it was they may be a guard to us. The very fact probably as the enemy was coming up to the that they were in Jeruse.lem, and known to attack ; he then made this short but stirring be there, would tend to prevent an attack ; appeal. That no con.filct followed would and if the enemy assaulted by night, they seem to show, that "when the enemy would be at hand, and able to take thoir approached, and saw from a distance the part in guarding the work. whole people awaiting them in perfect equip- Ver. 23. -My br1,thren. Actual brothers ment, order, and spirit," they lost heart probably. 'Ibat Nehemiah had brothers and " turned back " (Ewald, ' History of appears from eh. i. 2 ; that one of them, Israel,' vol. v. p. 155). The Lord, which is Hanani, had accou,panied him to Jerusalem great and terrible. See the comment on is evident from eh. vii. 2. My servants. eh. i. 5. See above, ver. 16. The men of the guard Ver. 16. -The half of my servants that followed me. As governor, Nehemiah wrought ill the work. Nehemiah divided would maintain a body-guard, in addition to his "servants" or slaves into two bodies, his band of slaves. Saving that every one one of which laboured at the wall, while put them off for washing. So the Vulgate: the other kept gnaru., fully armed, and helcl "Unusquisque tantum nudabatur ad bap- the spears, bows and arrows, shields, and tismum ; " but it is at least doubtful corselets of their fellows. The ruler■ were whether the Hebrew words can possibly have behind. The '' rulers " or '' princes " did this meaning. The most natural and literal not labour, but stood behilld the labourers, sense of them is that given by Maurer and ,lirecting them, e.nd ready to lead them on Rambach-" Each man's weapon was his if the enemy ventured to come to blows. water;" the supposed connection of the Ver. 17.-A.nd they which bare burdeD.B, clause with the preceding being, '' No one with those that laded. Rather, " both they took off his clothes," not even for the bath wLich bare burdens, as they laded." The -no one bathed ; "a man's only bath was builders, or those engaged upon the work, his weapon." Some critics, however, defend ue divided into two classes-(!) actual the rendering of the A. V ; others take the on. rv. 7-23.J THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 43