John Gill Commentary Nehemiah 4:23

"So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard that followed me, none of us put off our clothes, every one [went with] his weapon [to] the water." — Nehemiah 4:23 (ASV)

So neither I, nor my brethren
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 slept 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 (Leviticus 15:5–10) , &c. and the Vulgate Latin version expresses it by baptism, as the apostle calls such ceremonial ablutions in (Hebrews 6:2) (9:10) . It is in the margin of our Bibles, "everyone went with his weapon for water"; when he went to Siloam, or any other place, for water, he took a weapon with him to defend himself upon occasion; which is no bad sense of the words. Noldius ^F7 renders the words, "everyone with his weapon (and) water"; both were at his bolster, ready, if wanted, see (1 Samuel 26:11 1 Samuel 26:12) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F7: Ebr. Concord. Partic. p. 322.