John Trapp on Nehemiah 4:21

Verſe 21. So we laboured in the work] Their fear of the enemy did not weaken them, but waken them rather to a redoubled diligence.

From the riſing of the Sun till the Stars appeared] Time was precious: and they redeemed and improved it. The common complaint is, We want time: but the truth is, Non parùm habemus temporis, ſed multùm perdimus. We do not ſo much want, as waſte it. The good man is perdius & pernox, night and day at his buſineſſe: and his thoughts are the ſame with thoſe of Rabbi Simeon, Dies brevis eſt, & opus multum, & operarii pigri, & paterfamilias urget, The time is ſhort, the task large, the workmen lither, the maſter of the houſe urgent.