For the wall was being healed: The term arukhah properly denotes the joining together of a bone that has been broken in two (Jeremiah 30:17); it is used here figuratively for the breaches in the wall. The breaches: The breached places in the wall had begun to be closed.

And to cause confusion within it: It is evident that they were afraid to engage in open warfare. Instead, they sought to mislead the inhabitants of Jerusalem and attack them suddenly, when they would not be on their guard against them, as stated in verse 5.

Against them: That is, to keep watch on them and give warning when they attacked the city.

(ד - ו) הפסוקים האלה מוקשים מאד?:

(4–6) These verses are exceedingly difficult to understand.

And Judah said: The people of Judah said that construction of the wall now had to be suspended for two reasons. First, the strength of the burden-bearers had failed. The word refers to a person who carries burdens, as in “seventy thousand burden-bearers” (II Chronicles 2). And there was much rubble; as long as the burden-bearers had not cleared away the rubble, we would be unable to build the wall.

Second, they said: Our enemies are lying in wait to attack us suddenly. They said to one another, “We will come upon them unexpectedly, so that they will not know of it beforehand, for we will keep our plan secret. Nor will they see us as we approach, until we come into their midst, because we will attack them from a place of concealment.”

And it came to pass: This too is part of the report of the people of Judah, explaining how they learned of the plot. When the Jews who lived near them came to Jerusalem—that is, the Jews who lived in the cities of Judah’s enemies—they told us ten times. They did not tell us this only once, in which case it might have been dismissed as a fabrication, but repeated it many times. Nor did the reports come from only one place, in which case one might have thought that only some of the enemies intended us harm; rather, they came from all the places, showing that all of Judah’s hostile neighbors had agreed upon the plan. “You must return to us” is what the people of Judah said to one another. They meant: You cannot disperse, each man apart from his fellow, to build the wall. Instead, all of you must cease and rest from building and join us, so that we may stand together in one place, arrayed for battle against the enemy, now that we know with certainty that he will attack us. Moreover, the Jews who came there had revealed the specific place from which the enemy would attack; they therefore had to take their stand at that location, prepared for battle.

(ז - ח) למה אמר ב' פעמים ואעמיד?, מהו וארא מה ראה?:

(7–8) Why does he say “and I stationed” twice? What is the meaning of “and I saw”—what did he see?

And I stationed: Once Nehemiah had learned precisely from the Jewish informants the place from which the enemies would attack, he stationed men in the lower parts of that location, where the enemies were expected to arrive. Behind the wall, he stationed warriors in a concealed ambush. They hid behind the wall in the barren, rocky places—tzeḥiḥim, as in “a barren rock”—beneath the rocks, so that when the enemies arrived, they could fire upon them from ambush. And I stationed the people by their families: At that same location, he also stationed the people openly against the enemy, divided by families into separate companies. All of them—both those lying in ambush behind the wall and those standing openly for battle—had their swords and spears and were prepared to fight.

And I saw: Nehemiah, standing as a watchman, saw that the enemy was coming and approaching that place. And I arose and said: He then warned the people that the sword was approaching and told them not to be afraid, but to remember Hashem and fight.

And it came to pass: As a result, our enemies heard that their plan had become known to us, for they found all of us arrayed for battle. God thereby frustrated their scheme, and they withdrew without beginning to fight at all. Then, when we saw that the danger had passed, we all returned to the wall.

(י - טו) בפסוק י"א אמר שגם העושים במלאכה החזיקו בכלי זין, ובפסוק ט"ו אמר שחצים עושים במלאכה וחצים מחזיקים ברמחים?, בפסוק י"א אמר שהבונים מחזיקים השלח ביד אחת, ובפסוק י"ב אמר שחרב הבונים אסור על מתניהם?:

(10–15) In verse 11, he says that even those engaged in the work held weapons, whereas verse 15 says that half were engaged in the work and half held the spears. In verse 11, he says that the builders held a weapon in one hand, whereas verse 12 says that the builders’ swords were strapped to their waists. How are these statements to be reconciled?

And it came to pass from that day onward: It appears that at first they still feared that the enemy might return against them. They therefore did not yet disperse, each man to his own place—for each family had been building a different section around the wall—but all remained at this particular place, where the danger was greatest, since the enemy had seen that this location was favorable for attacking them. They all built together in one place. At that time, the people were not divided so that half performed the work while half held weapons. Rather, everyone held a weapon in one hand and worked with the other, as stated in verses 11–12. Only Nehemiah’s young men and servants, who were mighty warriors, were divided: half of my young men performed the work, and half held—that is, held weapons. The verse then explains why Nehemiah’s young men alone were assigned this task, with half of them performing no work: they possessed spears, shields, bows, and armor. Those who fought with spears also carried shields, while those who fought with bows wore armor. They could not perform the work, because the spearmen held a spear in one hand and a shield in the other, while the archers wore armor, and it was impossible to work while wearing scale armor. They were trained warriors, experienced in fighting with shields and armor in the manner of soldiers. And the officers were behind all the house of Judah: The officers and the entire house of Judah were all there behind me—that is, they remained assembled around Nehemiah and did not disperse to their respective tasks. Since they were not trained warriors and possessed neither shields and armor nor bows—for archery requires training—they followed a different arrangement: all of them worked with one hand while holding a weapon in the other, so that they could stab any enemy who approached them. This is what the following verse explains.

Those who built: Both those who built the wall and those who carried burdens were alike in this respect. The verse explains that those carrying burdens had the loads placed upon them. There is a distinction between massa, “a burden,” and ma’amasa, “a load placed upon someone”: the latter is a burden that another person places upon the carrier, whereas “carrying” can also refer to a person lifting the burden himself, as I explained in Isaiah 46. Thus, they did not place the burdens upon their own shoulders; rather, each person placed the load upon his fellow’s shoulder, which is called omes. The verse explains why: with one hand he performed the work, while the other held the weapon. Since it is impossible to lift a burden onto one’s shoulder with only one hand, each person had to load it onto his fellow’s shoulder.

And the builders: Since it was impossible to build with one hand while holding a weapon in the other, each man built with his sword fastened at his waist. A builder could easily draw his sword when the enemy approached, unlike a burden-bearer, whose load would prevent him from doing so; the burden-bearers therefore held their weapons in their hands. There is a distinction between a shelaḥ and a sword: the shelaḥ is a blade sharpened on both edges and used for thrusting. It is not kept in a sheath but held in the hand like a spear. And the one who sounded the shofar was beside me, ready to give battle signals whenever necessary.

And I said: This was the situation at first. Later, however, when they saw that the enemy had returned to his own place and was not coming back against them, their great fear subsided. Each man then began returning to the place where he was building—the section of the wall that he had undertaken to build. Nehemiah therefore told them that, since the work was extensive and spread out, each person had to work in a different place, for if they all remained in one location, the work would never be completed. Consequently, we are separated along the wall, each man at his own workplace, and from now on we will be far from one another. I therefore command you, first, that wherever you hear the sound of the shofar, you must assemble there with us. And secondly, from now on—

And we: Not everyone would engage in the work, but only half of them. And half would hold the spears, patrolling throughout the city to guard it. Since the people were now scattered and separated, there would be no benefit in having those engaged in the work carry their weapons, for in any event a few individuals at a single location could not fight effectively. Instead, they would perform their work normally, while the other half would stand together closely on guard with spears, ready to confront the enemy.

And they served us: At night they served as a guard, and by day they performed the work.

We did not: The word ein (“not”) is repeated implicitly in the following clause: “We did not take off [our clothes at night]; [nor did] any man send his garment to the water”—that is, no one sent his garment to a launderer to be washed in water.