After their families. — In allusion to the ambushes of Nehemiah 4:11, Nehemiah set families together — besides the appointed guards — “ in the lower places,” where the wall was not raised to the due height, that is, really, “on the higher places,” or rather, the bare places, whence enemies might be better seen. The “lower” were the “bare” places.
Related Commentaries of Nehemiah 4:13
Nehemiah 4:13
13 Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.