Nehemiah 7:4

Neh 7:4 Now the city [was] large and great: but the people [were] few therein, and the houses [were] not builded.

Ver. 4. Now the city was large] Heb. Broad in spans or spaces.

And great] Yet nothing so great as Nineveh was of old; or Babylon then; or Alcair and Quinsay at this day. Of the former Bunting saith, that it is sixty miles in compass. Of the latter, Paulus Venetus (who himself dwelt therein about the year 1260) writeth, that it is a hundred miles about, being of all the cities in the world the greatest. Jerusalem was a great city and spacious, though it fell far short of these.

And the people were few therein] But how exceedingly they multiplied afterwards appeareth by those many thousands of persons there destroyed and carried away by the Romans at the last desolation; as testifieth Josephus, an eyewitness, quem lege, et luge, what he collected and lamented. For present, they were so few that they were not able, without help, to defend the walls in so large a circuit.

And the houses were not builded] All could not be done in a day. But some ceiled houses there were, Hag 1:4, and Nehemiah was all his time busy in building the old waste places, and raising up the foundations of many generations; so that he was worthily called, "The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in," Isa 58:12. Eusebius saith, Nehemiah was twelve years in building the walls; he should have said, the city. Jerome likewise saith, that he came to Jerusalem in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, and made an end of building the wall and city in the two and thirtieth year; so that, during the whole twelve years of his government, he was in action.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 7:4. The houses were not builded — That is, not all, nor completely built; but only some slight buildings of boards or stones were erected, for the present use of the generality of the people.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

GENEALOGICAL REGISTRY OF THE PEOPLE, Neh_7:4-73.

4. The city was large — Broad-sided, extensive; so that it required many watchers to keep guard on every side.

The people were few therein — That is, comparatively few, and far from sufficient to occupy the great space enclosed by the walls.

And the houses… not builded — That is, the majority of the houses of the ancient city were fallen in ruins, and comparatively few had been fitted up for the present use of the returned exiles.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7:4-5 Most people lived in the country near their fields, so the population of Jerusalem was small. Apparently, a registration would encourage more people to settle in and near Jerusalem (7:73).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Now the city was large and great--The walls being evidently built on the old foundations, the city covered a large extent of surface, as all Oriental towns do, the houses standing apart with gardens and orchards intervening. This extent, in the then state of Jerusalem, was the more observable as the population was comparatively small, and the habitations of the most rude and simple construction--mere wooden sheds or coverings of loose, unmortared stones.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. The houses were not builded.] The city was not yet rebuilt, only a row of houses in the inside of the wall all round.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. large and great] R.V. wide and large. The phrase rendered ‘wide’ (cf. Gen_34:21; Jdg_18:10) denotes extension on every side; its literal rendering would be ‘wide on both hands.’

the people were few] The inhabitants of Jerusalem were in Nehemiah’s time very few in comparison with what they had been before the captivity, see Neh_11:1-2. The number of Jews that had returned with Zerubbabel had been 42360 (Ezr_2:64; Neh_7:66). With Ezra there had come rather more than 1500 (Ezr_8:1-20). Others had come from time to time. But of the whole number of 50,000 or so, a very large proportion were settled in the country and towns in the neighbourhood, as appears from Neh_7:73, Neh_11:25-36, Neh_12:27-29.

the houses were not builded] An expression that cannot be understood literally. The meaning is, there were large open spaces within the walls unoccupied.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now the city was large and great,.... The circumference of it, all within the wall; for that was built on its old foundation, and enclosed as much ground as ever it did: Hecataeus (b), an Heathen writer, says the circumference of Jerusalem was fifty furlongs, which was more than six miles; but Josephus (c) makes the circuit of it but thirty three furlongs or about six miles:

but the people were few therein; in comparison of the largeness of the place; for though there were 42,360 that came up at first with Zerubbabel, and many more with Ezra, yet a great number chose to settle in the towns and cities in the country, Jerusalem being in such a desolate condition:

and the houses were not builded; some were, but they were but few, many of them still lay in ruins.

(b) Apud Euseb. Praepar. par. Evangel. l. 9. c. 4. p. 408. & apud Joseph. contr. Apion, l. 1. c. 22. (c) De Bell. Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The people were few - The number of those who returned with Zerubbabel was no more than 42,360 Neh 7:66. Less than 2,000 people had come with Ezra Ezra 8:1-20.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Not built, sufficient for so great a multitude. (Calmet) --- They lodged under tents, or in huts. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

i.e. Not all, nor completely built; but only some slight buildings of boards or stones were made for the present use of the generality of the people.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The city was large. Literally, "broad every way." The houses were not builded. Much of the city consisted of open spaces, in which no houses had been as yet built.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

a wide place Heb. רַחֲבַת יָדַיִם, a wide and large place.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.