Commentaria in II Esdrae (Nehemiam)
Chapter 3. Synopsis of the Chapter
Nehemias recounts what part of the wall, and what towers and gates, each man rebuilt.
1. And Eliasib the high priest rose up, and his brethren the priests, and they built the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors thereof, and unto the tower of a hundred cubits they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel. 2. And next to him the men of Jericho built: and next to him built Zachur the son of Amri. 3. And the fish gate the sons of Asnaa built: they covered it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars: and next to them built Marimuth the son of Urias, the son of Accus. 4. And next to him built Mosollam the son of Barachias, the son of Mesezebel; and next to them built Sadoc the son of Baana: 5. and next to them the Thecuites built; but their nobles did not bow down their necks to the work of their lord. 6. And the old gate Joiada the son of Phasea built, and Mosollam the son of Besodias: they covered it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars; 7. and next to them built Meltias the Gabaonite, and Jadon the Meronathite, men of Gabaon and of Maspha, for the governor who was in the country beyond the river. 8. And next to him built Eziel the son of Araia, a goldsmith: and next to him built Ananias the son of the apothecary; and they left Jerusalem unto the wall of the broader street. 9. And next to him built Raphaia the son of Hur, the ruler of a street of Jerusalem. 10. And next to him built Jedaia the son of Haromaph over against his house: and next to him built Hattus the son of Hasebonias. 11. Melchias the son of Herem, and Hasub the son of Phahath Moab, built the other half of the street, and the tower of the furnaces. 12. And next to him built Sellum the son of Alohes, the ruler of half of the street of Jerusalem, he and his daughters. 13. And the gate of the valley Hanun built, and the inhabitants of Zanoe: they built it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars, and a thousand cubits of the wall unto the dung gate. 14. And the dung gate Melchias the son of Rechab built, the ruler of the street of Bethacharam: he built it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars. 15. And the gate of the fountain Sellum the son of Cholhoza built, the ruler of the village of Maspha: he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars, and the walls of the pool of Siloe to the king’s garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David. 16. After him Nehemias the son of Azboc, the ruler of half the street of Bethsur, built unto over against the sepulchre of David, and unto the pool which was made with great work, and unto the house of the valiant men. 17. After him built the Levites, Rehum the son of Bennui: after him built Hasebias, the ruler of half the street of Ceila in his street. 18. After him built their brethren, Bavai the son of Henadad, the ruler of half of Ceila. 19. And next to him built Azer the son of Josue, the ruler of Maspha, another measure, over against the going up of the strongest corner. 20. After him in the mount built Baruch the son of Zachai another measure, from the corner unto the gate of the house of Eliasib the high priest. 21. After him built Merimuth the son of Urias the son of Accus another measure from the gate of the house of Eliasib, till the house of Eliasib was ended. 22. And after him built the priests, men of the plains of the Jordan. 23. After him built Benjamin and Hasub over against their house: and after him built Azarias the son of Maasias the son of Ananias over against his house. 24. After him built Bennui the son of Henadad another measure, from the house of Azarias unto the turning, and unto the corner. 25. Phalel the son of Ozi over against the turning, and the tower which standeth out from the king’s high house, that is, in the court of the prison: after him Phadaia the son of Pharos. 26. Now the Nathinites dwelt in Ophel, unto over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that stood out. 27. After him the Thecuites built another measure over against, from the great tower and that standeth out, unto the wall of the temple. 28. But above the horse gate the priests built, every one over against his house. 29. After them built Sadoc the son of Emmer over against his house. And after him built Semeia the son of Sechenias, the keeper of the east gate. 30. After him built Hanania the son of Selemias, and Hanun the sixth son of Seleph, another measure: after him built Mosollam the son of Barachias, over against his treasury. After him built Melchias the son of the goldsmith unto the house of the Nathinites, and of them that sold small wares, over against the judgment gate, and unto the corner chamber.
32. And between the corner chamber and the sheep gate the goldsmiths and merchants built.
1. Eliasib the high priest—that is, the Pontiff. He was the son and successor of Joakim the son of Josedec. Philo of Viterbo relates that Jesus died, in his pontificate and life, in the year 20 of Darius Hystaspes, and was succeeded by Joakim until the year 12 of Artaxerxes; when Joakim died he left as successor his son Eliasib, who held the pontificate until the year 33 of Artaxerxes. This is that Philo; let the credit of it rest with him.
They built the sheep gate—through which the sheep and oxen to be sacrificed were brought into the city, that after being washed in the sheep pool they might be carried into the temple.
They sanctified it—that is, they cleansed the sheep gate of ruins, rubble and the profanation of the fire, setting it up as it had been before, and restoring it to its former beauty, says Vatablus, Cajetan and Villalpandus. So in Exodus 19 God says to Moses: “Sanctify the people,” that is, bid them purify and cleanse themselves by washing their garments and abstaining from their wives. Second, “They sanctified it” means they dedicated it to the Lord; because this was the sheep gate, through which the victims to be sanctified for God and consecrated by sacrifice 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 remaining gates and the whole city. For Jerusalem was, and was called, the holy city, as being set apart from the profane rite of the Gentiles and dedicated to the worship of the true God, and as it were God’s mirror, above all through the temple so magnificently raised to God by Solomon. Hence Mariana, Salianus, Emmanuel Sa and Sanchez think that the high priest Eliasib dedicated and consecrated this sheep gate and the whole city to God (to whom it properly belonged) by solemn prayer, or sacrifice, or lustral water, or a similar blessing; and this is sufficiently gathered from what the Samaritans say of them in the following chapter, verse 2: “Will they sacrifice, and finish in one day?” And chapter 12, 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 the Levites were purified, and they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.” The Gentiles imitated the same. Hence Servius, on book 3 of the Aeneid, relates that at the founding of a city they sacrificed to Father Liber, that the city might be free. Hear Aeneas, a fugitive from Troy, planning a new city in Thrace, Aeneid III, shortly after the beginning:
I first laid out walls, entering the place under unkind fates, and form for the Aeneadae a name from my own name.
I was offering sacred rites to my mother Dione and to the gods, favouring the works begun; and on the shore I was slaying a shining bull to the high ruler of the heavenly ones.
Moreover, among the Gentiles gates and walls were sacred, as Alexander ab Alexandro teaches, book 6 of the Genialia, chapter 14, and Tiraquellus there.
Unto the tower of a hundred cubits.—The Hebrew has, unto the tower Meah, which was called Mea, that is, a hundred, because it was of a hundred cubits.
6. And the old gate Joiada built, etc.
Note from Villalpandus, tome 3, book 3, chapter 26, that the chief gates of Jerusalem were twelve, which were situated on the three sides of the city, looking towards the parts of the world; for each side had four gates; for on the fourth side, facing the south, where the steep rocks of Mount Sion closed in the city and denied exit and entrance, there was no gate. The eastern side, then, had first the “sheep” gate already mentioned; second the “horse” gate, through which horses were led to water at the torrent Cedron; third the “water” gate, so called from the collection of the waters of the fountain of Siloe, which Ezechias made there; fourth the “potter’s” gate, because beside it potters practised their craft and formed earthen vessels.
The northern side of the city had first the gate of “Benjamin,” because by it one went into the lot 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 the judges sat and held the trials both of strangers and of citizens, which was near the temple and the “sheep” gate. In this verse it is called “old,” because in it there remained traces of the old building of the Jebusites and of Melchisedech; fourth the gate of “Ephraim,” through which one went to the tribe of Ephraim. This fourth gate, like the following gate “of the corner,” is not named here, because they needed no restoration, as is hinted 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 the corpses and of Calvary; third the “dung” gate; fourth the gate of the “fountain,” of which I spoke in the preceding chapter, verse 13.
To these twelve gates of Jerusalem St. John alluded, Apocalypse chapter 21, verse 12, where he enumerates as many gates of the heavenly Jerusalem.
of the wall for a space of 400 cubits, which was between the gate of Ephraim and the gate of the corner already mentioned; because not long before King Azarias had repaired and fortified this side excellently, so that it could not be pulled down by the Chaldeans.
16. Unto the house of the valiant men—in which dwelt the thirty most valiant heroes of David and afterwards their successors. For this house seems to have been a kind of seminary or college of valiant men, who handled arms and presided in wars and taught soldiers to fight. See what is said on 2 Kings, chapter 23, verse 8 and following.
17. After him built Hasebias, ruler of half the street of Ceila in his street.—Jerusalem was divided into its streets, and over each street was set its own leader and prefect, who is here called a ruler. The same is done even now at Rome. For Rome from of old was divided into its streets or regions, each of which had its own prefect, who in Italian are called Caporioni, that is, heads of the regions of the city; when the see is vacant their authority is great; for it is theirs to guard the city and to quell tumults, and therefore to punish offenders.
31. Unto the house of the Nathinites.—These were Gabaonites, of whom I spoke on Josue 9.
8. And they left Jerusalem unto the wall of the broader street—that is, they omitted the building