And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great distress and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
All Commentaries on Nehemiah 1:3 Go To Nehemiah 1
Bede
AD 735
Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and they built the Sheep Gate.3 This Eliashib was the high priest at the time. He was the son of Joiakim, who, after his own father, Jeshua the high priest son of Jozadak, himself bore the insignia of the priesthood for a long time. And it was right that the restoration of the city was begun by a high priest and his brothers, in order that those who were highest in rank might themselves in their good works become an example for all. And it is well that, as the priests are building, it adds: And as far as the Tower of One Hundred Cubits they sanctified it, as far as the Tower of Hananel. For priests build to the number of one hundred cubits4 when they enflame all those whom they are instructing with love and desire for eternal things. For the number one hundred, which in counting on the fingers moves from the left hand to the right, represents celestial rewards, which, in comparison with temporal and base rewards, are as the right hand is to the left. They are also said to have sanctified the gate which they built. For it is the duty of priests to make their own actions worthy more than others through a special sanctification, and to do this earnestly so that those who are joined with them might sanctify the Lord's name in themselves by living well.
