These words sum up in what context the rebuilding teams (under Nehemiah’s leadership; note the word we
) persevered in the project. Lest we misunderstand the pressure of the atmosphere, Nehemiah repeats what he had already mentioned in Nehemiah 4:16: “Half of them held the spears.” The term spears
stands for all the weapons mentioned in that verse.
21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.