Nehemiah 4:16

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,

Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. No JFB commentary on these verses.

From that time forth, lest our enemies should repeat their enterprise. The half of my servants; of my domestic servants, and of my guards, who should have attended upon my own person. The spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons, i.e. all their weapons; they stood in their arms prepared for battle. The rulers were behind all; partly to encourage them in their work, and sometimes to assist with their own hands; and partly to direct and command them in case of an assault. The house of Judah, i.e. the Jews who were upon the wall.

Nehemiah 4:16 And it came to pass from that time forth, [that] the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers [were] behind all the house of Judah.Ver. 16. And it came to pass from that time forth] As it is told of that peerless Queen Elizabeth, that in times of greatest peace she ever made preparation for war; so did this incomparable Nehemiah; still fearing some new practice, and not knowing what those restless cads were even now a hammering. That the half of my servants wrought in the work] No servants they were for Nehemiah, if they would not work. He was an active man himself, trading every talent; and those about him must all be active. One would wonder how this courtier should become on the sudden so cunning a soldier, and should marshal his men so skilfully, setting the younger before to bear the brunt of the battle, and the elders behind to direct and encourage, according to that of the poet, Eογανεων, βουλαιτανδρων, ευχαιτεγεροντων. But it was his God that instructed him to this discretion, and taught him, Isaiah 28:26, and he might well break out and sing, with David, "Blessed be the Lord, my strength, which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight," Psalms 144:1. Quando Christus Magister, quam cito dicitur quod docetur? saith Austin. God’ s scholars must needs be exact in a short space. And the habergeons] These were armour for back and breast. In the Christian armour there is no mention of armour for the back, though there is for the breast, because a Christian soldier should never flee, but be like Androclid, whom, when one derided, because, being lame, he went into the war, he answered merrily, that he came thither to fight, not to run away.

(16) My servants.—The building was resumed with special precautions, very minutely described. “Nehemiah’s own servants” are distinguished from “all the house of Judah.” The former were divided into two parties, one of which wrought on the work still unfinished and the other held their weapons. Habergeons are coats of mail or corselets, thin plates of metal sewn upon leather. The rulers were behind—Ready to lead the defence, if necessary.

Verse 16. Half-wrought in the work] This is no unusual thing, even in the present day, in Palestine: people sowing their seed are often attended by an armed man, to prevent the Arabs from robbing them of their seed, which they will not fail to do if not protected. Habergeons] In the Franco-Gallic, hautbergon signifies a coat of mall; but as in Teutonic [Teutonic] signifies the neck, and [Teutonic], to cover or defend; it may be considered rather as signifying a breastplate, or armour for the breast.

16. the half of my servants wrought in the work] R.V. half of, &c. Literally ‘half of my young men.’ The LXX. by a strange error τῶνἐκτετιναγμένων. These were probably the bodyguard attached to the person of Nehemiah as the governor. They are mentioned again in Nehemiah 4:23; Nehemiah 5:10; Nehemiah 5:16. We gather that only in the case of these his personal attendants did Nehemiah still insist upon arms being held in readiness, while the work of building went on. The rest of the Jews were exempted. Nehemiah’s servants were kept prepared for any emergency. One half of them worked on the wall: the other half were stationed under arms at various points holding the weapons of their comrades. and the other half of them held both the spears, &c.] R.V. and half of them held the spears. In the original the copula ‘and’ stands before ‘the spears.’ It has been suggested that this implies the falling out of a word, e.g. ‘the swords’ after which the copula would be natural, i.e. ‘the swords and the spears, &c.’ The interpretation which, accepting the introduction of the word ‘swords,’ begins a new sentence with ‘and the spears, &c.’ is harsh and improbable. But it is best to suppose that the copula has been accidentally inserted from the neighbouring words. The wearing of a sword was not incompatible with the manual work. The weapons held by the non-working detachment are just those which would have rendered work on the wall impossible. Cf. Nehemiah 4:18. the spears] The ‘spear’ (romakh) mentioned here and in Nehemiah 4:13; Nehemiah 4:21 seems to have been the principal thrusting weapon. We do not find it anywhere spoken of as a ‘javelin’ to be hurled. It must have been more of the Greek phalanx spear than the ‘pilum’ of the Roman soldier. It is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 11:12; 2 Chronicles 14:8; 2 Chronicles 25:5; 2 Chronicles 26:14, in connexion with the armies of the Southern kingdom, in Jeremiah 46:4, with the forces of Pharaoh-Necho, in Ezekiel 39:9, with the armies of Gog. The same word is used of the weapons with which the prophets of Baal mutilated themselves as they offered sacrifice on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:28). the shields, and the bows] There were two kinds of shields in the armies of the East, the one small and round (‘the buckler’), the other large and oblong. They are mentioned together in 2 Chronicles 23:9; cf. 1 Kings 10:16-17. Representations of the two kinds may be seen in the Assyrian sculptures. Here the shields are of the smaller kind (magen), and would be used by those who carried spears. and the bows] In the Assyrian bas-reliefs we constantly find ‘bowmen’ attacking a city protected by shield-bearers, and discharging their arrows behind large oblong shields. Here however shooting from behind a rampart, the large shields would not be required. and the habergeons] R.V. and the coats of mail. Cp. also 2 Chronicles 26:14, where the R.V. makes the same alteration.

Habergeons - Or, “coats of mail.” Coats of mail were common in Assyria from the ninth century B.C., and in Egypt even earlier.

16. The half of my servants — Nehemiah may, as governor of the people and superintendent of the work, speak here of all the people who laboured on the wall as his servants; but Nehemiah 4:23 shows