Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Hammeah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananel.
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Bede
AD 735
And they said to me, 'Those who had remained and were left behind at the time of the capture there in the province are in great distress and disgrace; and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been destroyed by fire'. The literal meaning is evident, namely that those who had remained after the capture, even though they seemed to be living at peace in view of the fact that the king of the Persians had shown himself to be their friend, and not long previously had sent to them Ezra the scribe with letters in order that he should have authority over all the region beyond the river, nonetheless they were in great distress because their enemies blamed them that the holy city still remained in ruins.3 But even now in the Holy Church people are rightly afflicted and pricked by a salutary sense of remorse when, even though they themselves have repented of their past wrongdoings, they consider the fact that their neighbors still are subject to sins, so that, through the neglig...
Priest, the third since the captivity, son (Calmet) or brother of Joachim. (Lyranus)
Flock-gate, near which was probably the miraculous pool, John v. 2. But the situation of these gates is not ascertained.
Sanctified it, beginning the work (Calmet) with some religious ceremonies. (Junius)
It was designed to protect God's temple; and therefore, when finished, they dedicated it (Worthington) with solemnity, as they did all the walls, chap. xii. 27. The like custom is observed on laying the foundation-stone of our temples. (Haydock) Sanctified may also mean, cleared away the rubbish. (Vatable) (Tirinus)
Hundred. Hebrew Mea.
Cubits is not in the original, Septuagint or Syriac, (Calmet) though it seems to be understood. The ancient Jerusalem had twelve principal gates, four east, north, and west. There were none on the south, where Mount Sion lay. (Tirinus)
The priests and others undertook this work, considering their eternal as well as their temporal inheritance. (Du Hamel)
