large and great. wide, or open, and large.
few therein. This could not have been said if Zerubbabel had already returned with nearly 50,000 people (Ezra 2:64-67).
the houses were not builded. no sign of houses being built. This statement refers to the permanent stable habitations of the city proper which Haggai speaks of as being in existence forty-four years later (Haggai 1:4; Haggai 1:9). The word bayith, house, means. dwelling, and in Nehemiah 2:3 with Nehemiah 3:31 is rendered "place", which clearly indicates its meaning in these passages. Among the ruined houses left by Nebuchadnezzar many might easily have been made habitable sufficiently to fulfill the conditions of Nehemiah 8:16.
This portion corresponds with Ezra 1:5 Ezra 2:70. Therefore all that precedes (Nehemiah 1:1 -- Nehemiah 7:4) must come, chronologically, before Ezra 1:5, Nehemiah's record here interrupted, and resumed after some twelve years. See Nehemiah 5:14. This portion was written after the Temple had been rebuilt (Compare Nehemiah 8:5; Nehemiah 8:16), when Darius Hystaspis was reigning (see App-57, App-58, App-50.)