Synopsis of the Chapter
The names and sections of those who rebuilt the walls and gates of Jerusalem under Nehemiah's direction, with notes on the twelve gates of the city.
Verse 1: Eliashib the High Priest ¶
1. ELIASHIB THE HIGH PRIEST — that is, the Pontiff. He was the son and successor of Joakim, the son of Josedec. Philo of Annius relates that Jeshua died in office and in life in the 20th year of Darius Hystaspes, and that Joakim succeeded him until the 12th year of Artaxerxes: at which time Joakim died and left as his successor his son Eliashib, who held the pontificate until the 33rd year of Artaxerxes. So says that Philo, on whose authority let faith rest.
THEY BUILT THE SHEEP GATE — through which the sheep and cattle to be sacrificed were brought into the city, so that, having been washed in the probatic pool, they might be brought into the temple.
THEY SANCTIFIED IT — that is, they cleansed the sheep gate from ruins, rubble, and the profanation of fire, by raising it up as it had been before and restoring it to its former beauty, says Vatablus, Cajetan, and Villalpando. So in Exodus XIX, God says to Moses: 'Sanctify the people,' that is, command them to purify and cleanse themselves by washing their garments and abstaining from their wives. Second, 'they sanctified it,' that is, they dedicated it to the Lord; because this was the sheep gate, through which victims to be sanctified to God and consecrated by immolation were brought into the temple, and therefore the high priest himself and the priests built and consecrated this gate to God, and through it the other gates and the entire city. For Jerusalem was and was called the holy city, inasmuch as it was separated from the profane rite of the Gentiles, and dedicated to the worship of the true God, and was, as it were, God's mirror, especially through the temple so magnificently erected by Solomon to God. Hence Mariana, Salianus, Emmanuel Sa, and Sanchez consider that Eliashib the high priest dedicated and consecrated this sheep gate and the whole city to God with a solemn prayer, or sacrifice, or lustral water, or a similar blessing (which was proper to God); and this is sufficiently gathered from what the Samaritans say about them in the following chapter, verse 2: 'Will they sacrifice and finish in one day?' And chapter XII, verse 27, where it is said: 'And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites.' And verse 30: 'And the priests and Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people, and the gates and the wall.' The Gentiles imitated the same. Hence Servius, in book III of the Aeneid, relates that they sacrificed to Father Liber at the founding of a city, so that the city might be free. Hear Aeneas, a fugitive from Troy, attempting a new city in Thrace, Aeneid III, shortly after the beginning: Entering first the walls in a place of unfavorable fates, I fashion from my name the name of the Aeneadae. I was offering sacrifices to my Dionaean mother and to the gods, As patrons of the works begun; and on the shore I was slaying A shining bull for the king of the heavenly dwellers above.
Moreover, among the Gentiles gates and walls were sacred, as Alexander of Alexandria teaches, book VI of Genial Days, chapter XIV, and Tiraqueau in his commentary there.
Up to the tower of a hundred cubits. — The Hebrew has: up to the tower of Meah, which was called Meah, that is, 'a hundred,' because it was a hundred cubits tall.
Verse 6: The Old Gate ¶
6. AND JOIADA AND OTHERS BUILT THE OLD GATE, etc. — Note from Villalpando, volume III, book III, chapter XXVI, that the principal gates of Jerusalem were twelve, which were situated on three sides of the city, facing three points of the compass; for each side had four gates; for on the fourth side facing south, where the steep cliffs of Mount Zion closed the city and denied exit and entry, there was no gate. The eastern side, therefore, had first the 'sheep' gate already mentioned; second, the 'horse' gate, through which horses were led to water at the torrent Kidron; third, the 'water' gate, so named from the collection of the waters of the fountain of Siloam, which Hezekiah made there; fourth, the 'potter's' gate, because near it potters practiced their craft of pottery and fashioned earthen vessels.
The northern side of the city had first the gate of 'Benjamin,' because through it one went to the territory of the tribe of Benjamin; second, the 'fish' gate, through which fish were brought into the city and the fish market; third, the 'judicial' gate, in which judges sat, and exercised judgment over both strangers and citizens, which was near the temple and the 'sheep' gate. This same gate is called 'old' in this verse, because in it the traces of the ancient construction of the Jebusites and Melchizedek remained; fourth, the gate of 'Ephraim,' through which one went to the tribe of Ephraim. This fourth gate, as well as the following gate of the 'corner,' are not named here, because they did not need restoration, as is implied in verse 8.
The western side had first the gate of the 'corner,' so called because it stood at the western and northern corner of the city; second, the gate of the 'valley' of corpses and Calvary; third, the 'dung' gate; fourth, the 'fountain' gate, about which I spoke in the preceding chapter, verse 13.
To these twelve gates of Jerusalem St. John alluded, Revelation chapter XXI, verse 12, where he lists an equal number of gates of the heavenly Jerusalem.
Verse 8: They Left Jerusalem as Far as the Broad Wall ¶
8. THEY LEFT JERUSALEM AS FAR AS THE BROAD WALL — that is, they interrupted the building of the wall for a distance of 400 cubits, which lay between the gate of Ephraim and the gate of the corner already mentioned; because not long before, King Azariah had excellently repaired and fortified this section, so that it could not be demolished by the Chaldeans.
Verse 16: The House of the Mighty Men ¶
16. As far as the house of the mighty men — in which the thirty most valiant heroes of David had dwelt, and afterward their successors. For this house seems to have been a kind of seminary or college of mighty men, who wielded arms and presided over wars and taught soldiers to fight. See the commentary on II Kings, chapter XXIII, verse 8 and following.
Verse 17: Ruler of Half the District of Keilah ¶
17. AFTER HIM HASHABIAH, RULER OF HALF THE DISTRICT OF KEILAH, BUILT IN HIS DISTRICT. — Jerusalem was divided into its own districts, and each district had its own leader and prefect presiding over it, who is here called 'ruler.' The same is still done in Rome. For Rome from ancient times was divided into its own districts or regions, each of which had its own prefect, who in Italian are called Caporioni, that is, heads of the regions of the city, whose authority is great when their seat is vacant; for it is their duty to protect the city and suppress disturbances, and therefore to punish offenders.
Verse 30: The House of the Nethinim ¶
30. As far as the house of the Nethinim. — These were the Gibeonites, about whom I commented on Joshua IX.