Not inclined to abandon their purpose, "the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice," hoping to find opportunity for traffic, with either the citizens or the country people. Nehemiah warned them that they would be punished if they continued this practice. "Why lodge ye about the wall?" he demanded; 673 "if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you." "From that time forth came they no more on the Sabbath." He also directed the Levites to guard the gates, knowing that they would command greater respect than the common people, while from their close connection with the service of God it was reasonable to expect that they would be more zealous in enforcing obedience to His law.

"De handlende og de, der solgte alle slags varer" ville dog ikke give op uden videre, men overnattede uden for Jerusalem et par gange i håb om, at enten byens indbyggere eller landbefolkningen ville handle med dem. Nehemias truede med at straffe dem, hvis de fortsatte hermed. Han sagde: "Hvorfor bliver I natten over uden for muren? Hvis I gør det en anden gang, lægger jeg hånd på eder!" Og siden kom de ikke mere på sabbatten." Han bød også levitterne vogte portene, fordi han var klar over, at de havde mere respekt med sig end lægfolket. Desuden måtte man også kunne forvente, at de ville indskærpe lydighed imod loven med større nidkærhed, fordi de var så nært knyttet til gudstjenesten.