Nehemiah 4:22

22 And at that time I said to the people, Lodge ye every man with his servant in the midst of Jerusalem, and let the night be a watch-time to you, and the day a work-time.

Nehemiah 4:22 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 4:22

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 4:22 In-Context

20 In whatsoever place ye shall hear the sound of the cornet, thither gather yourselves together to us; and our God shall fight for us.

21 So we labouring at the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared.

22 And at that time I said to the people, Lodge ye every man with his servant in the midst of Jerusalem, and let the night be a watch-time to you, and the day a work-time.

23 And I was , and the watchmen behind me, and there was not a man of us that put off his garments.