Nehemiah 4:23

“So neither I, nor my brethren, etc.] The nobles and rulers: nor my servants; his domestic servants that waited upon him: nor the men of the guard which followed me; his bodyguard, which attended him as a commissioner of the king of Persia for state and grandeur: none of us put off our clothes; at night when they laid themselves down to sleep, but laid in, them, that they might be ready upon an alarm made: saving that everyone put them off for washing; not for common washing, because dirty, but for washing on account of ceremonial uncleanness, which required washing both of bodies and garments, (see <031505>Leviticus 15:5-10), etc. and the Vulgate Latin version expresses it by baptism, as the…”

“Saving ... - The text here is probably unsound. It yields no satisfactory sense. See the margin. return to 'Top of Page' Footnotes: Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliographical Information Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Nehemiah 4". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bnb/nehemiah-4.html. 1870. StudyLight.org &copy;&#160;2001-2026 Powered by Lightspeed Technology”

“Washing - When they were to wash and cleanse themselves from some impurity, which might befal them or their garments. Next: Nehemiah Chapter 5”

“4:23 Nehemiah and the other leaders were not elitists who relaxed while others toiled.”

“So neither I: Neh 5:16, Neh 7:2; Jdg 9:48; Co1 15:10 saving that: etc. or, every one went with his weapon for water, Jdg 5:11; The original of this obscure clause is ish shilcho hammayim, which is rendered by Montanus, vir missile suum aquas, "a man his dart to the waters," of which it is difficult to make sense. It is wholly omitted by the LXX; and one of De Rossi's manuscripts reads, meshallachah al hammayim, "in order to send them to the water. Next: Nehemiah Chapter 5”