Every one with one of his hands, &c.— This is figurative, and means only that they were prepared either to build or to fight, it being impossible for them to have worked, if both hands had not been at liberty.
Related Commentaries of Nehemiah 4:17
Nehemiah 4:17
17 They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.