Nehemiah 7:4

large and great R.V. wide and large. The phrase rendered -wide" (cf. Genesis 34:21; Judges 18:10) denotes extension on every side; its literal rendering would be -wide on both hands."

the peoplewere few The inhabitants of Jerusalem were in Nehemiah's time very few in comparison with what they had been before the captivity, see Nehemiah 11:1-2. The number of Jews that had returned with Zerubbabel had been 42360 (Ezra 2:64; Nehemiah 7:66). With Ezra there had come rather more than 1500 (Ezra 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 Nehemiah 7:73; Nehemiah 11:25-36; Nehemiah 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.