Albert Barnes Commentary Nehemiah 13:21

"Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath." — Nehemiah 13:21 (ASV)

The lodging of the merchants with their merchandise just outside Jerusalem during the Sabbath marked their impatience for the moment when they might bring their wares in. This was thought by Nehemiah to be improper, and to have an irreligious tendency.