So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, [saving that] every one put them off for washing.
Ver. 23. So neither I] He said not to his men, Ite, but eamus, as Caesar did; Go ye, but go we; and as Abimelech, Judges 9:48, What ye see me do, make haste and do accordingly. Velleius flattered when he said, Tiberius imperio maximus, exemplo maior. Nehemiah was so in very deed.
Saving that every one put them off for washing] To keep themselves clean, and from being nasty; or otherwise, to wash themselves from legal pollutions.