So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.
When the builders had so far reason to think the design of the enemies broken as to return to their work, yet they were not so secure as to lay down their arms, knowing how restless and unwearied they were in their attempts, and that, if one design failed, they would be hatching another.
Commenting on Nehemiah 4:16-23
So we laboured in the work,.... Of building the wall: and half of them held the spears; and other weapons before mentioned, Neh 4:16 from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared; that is, from morning to evening, the space of time the builders and labourers worked.
HE SETS A WATCH. (Neh. 4:7-23) But . . . when Sanballat . . . heard that the walls . . . were made up, and . . . the breaches . . . stopped--The rapid progress of the fortifications, despite all their predictions to the contrary, goaded the Samaritans to frenzy.
Commenting on Nehemiah 4:7-23