¹⁸ She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.^(A)” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.^(B)

¹⁸ The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 men ready for military service^(A)—able-bodied men who could handle shield and sword, who could use a bow, and who were trained for battle.

² they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed;^(A) they were relatives of Saul^(B) from the tribe of Benjamin):

⁸ Asa had an army of three hundred thousand^(A) men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men.

¹⁴ Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army.^(A)

Opposition to the Rebuilding

4 ^[a]When Sanballat^(A) heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews,