And at Jerusalem dwelt certain of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin. Of the children of Judah; Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the children of Perez;
All Commentaries on Nehemiah 11:4 Go To Nehemiah 11
Bede
AD 735
And our enemies said, 'Let them not know it nor understand until we come among them and kill them and cause the work to “358” cease', and so on until it says: I stationed the people in order behind the wall in a circuit, with their swords and spears and bows.2 These things are also always done in the spiritual edifice. For the unwearied enemy lies in waiting with his unclean companions (namely /750/ malicious spirits and people) who constantly endeavor to impede and, in so far as they can, to assault the works of the faith and virtues whenever we are incautious, and they attempt to kill the mind of the faithful with the sword of depraved suggestion. But against these we must, according to the Apostle, take up the armor of God so that we may be able to resist on the evil day and to stand perfect in all things? Now is it well said that he stationed the people behind the wall in a circuit with weapons so that, surrounded by a troop of armed men, the builders might press on in building the wall with a freer and securer hand. For the grades of the faithful are divided up: some build up the Church by adorning it with good works on the inside, while others, armed with the weapons of sacred reading, keep vigilant for heretics who attack the same Church.1 The former in religious devotion strengthen their neighbors in the truth of the faith, while the latter wage a necessary battle against the weapons of the devil or of the vices with which they struggle to assault this same faith, and with pastoral solicitude repel the wolves lying in ambush from the Lord's sheepfold. “Neh. 4:15” And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it had been reported to us, God frustrated their counsel, and we all returned to the walls, each man to his own work. In the spiritual edifice too, if we are always clothed with the apostolic armour,2 the stratagem of the devil and his angels who desire to subdue us will be foiled.
