Nehemiah 2:13

by the gate of the valley R.V. by the valley gate. The R.V. rendering is preferable, showing that Nehemiah is not merely defining the position of the gate but is referring to it by its recognised name.

The valley-gate is mentioned again in Nehemiah 3:13. The king Uzziah according to 2 Chronicles 26:9 had fortified this gate with towers. We may safely identify this gate as the chief gate in the western wall of Jerusalem, and as thus corresponding to the modern Jaffa Gate, although very possibly not standing at precisely the same spot. There were two well-known valleys outside the walls of Jerusalem, (1) the -valley" or -ravine" (gai) of Hinnom or -the son of Hinnom," i.e. Gehenna, cf. Joshua 15:8; Joshua 18:16; 2Ki 23:10; 2 Chronicles 28:3; 2 Chronicles 33:6; Nehemiah 11:30; Jeremiah 7:31-32; Jeremiah 19:6; (2) the -valley" or -brook" or -watercourse" (nakhal) of Kedron. In the present verse the word for -valley" is - gai," and this fact coupled with the general topographical description here and in Nehemiah 3:13, shows that -the valley-gate" was the western gate leading out into the ravine of Hinnom.

Recent investigations, however, have given rise to the supposition that pre-exilic Jerusalem was much smaller in circuit and that the western wall passed down the valley of the Tyropoeon. If so, -the valley-gate" would be the gate opening into the Tyropoeon, which in those days was a considerable ravine but has since become almost completely choked with accumulations of ruin. According to this view the Tyropoeon is to be identified with the Valley of the Son of Hinnom.

even before the dragon well R.V. even towards the dragon's well. The LXX. misreading the less common word in the Hebrew for -dragon," renders καὶ πρὸς στὸμα πηγῆς τῶν συκῶν. The name is doubtless connected with some sanctuary at this fountain in prehistoric times, when -living water" was associated with the worship of a deity often represented by a -dragon." Prof. Robertson Smith (Religion of the Semites, pp. 156, 157) calls attention to -the connection of jinnsin the form of dragons or serpents with sacred or healing springs" … -The river of Coele-Syria, the Orontes, was carved out, according to local tradition, by a great dragon, which disappeared in the earth at its source." The explanation that the well was so called -because some curious large watersnake or crocodile was kept in it in Nehemiah's time" may be disregarded as fanciful and improbable.

The identification of the well is uncertain. By some it has been identified with -En-Rogel," near -the serpent's stone," the stone of Zoheleth (1 Kings 1:9). But see Nehemiah 2:15. By others it has been identified with -the fountain of Gihon" (1 Kings 1:33). Neither of these suggestions suits the present verse, from which we gather that -the dragon fountain stood on the W. or S.W. wall of the city." If it was a spring in the Tyropoeon Valley, it has long since been choked up. -The rock-hewn conduit which has been found running along the bed of the Tyropoeon Valley" (Sir Chas. Wilson's Jerusalem, p. 113, 1889) may very well have conducted the water from such a spring. The -serpent," or Mamilla Pool, lay at the N. end of the modern Hinnom Valley (Joseph. Bell. Jud.v. 3. 2).

dung port R.V. dung gate. The A.V. probably introduced the rendering -port" as an intentional variation. For -port" as the old English word for -gate," compare in the Prayer-book Version Psalms 9:14, -within the portsof the daughter of Sion." Shakespeare, Coriolanus, i. 7, -So let the portsbe guarded" (see The Bible Word-Book, by W. Aldis Wright).

The dung-gate was probably so called because the refuse of the town was carried out through this gate. Some scholars suppose this to be the same as -the gate Harsith" or -gate of potsherds" mentioned in Jeremiah 19:2. It is mentioned also in Nehemiah 3:13-14; Nehemiah 12:31. The proposal to identify it with the modern -dung-gate," the -Bâb-el-Mughâribe," is very natural; but the similarity of the name may be misleading. We might however assume that such a gate would be near the Southern extremity of the city, or at any rate not far from the lowest depression in the neighbourhood of the city.

and viewed the walls, &c. -viewed," that is, -surveyed," as in Shakespeare Hen. V.ii. 4, -Therefore, I say -tis meet we all go forth To viewthe sick and feeble parts of France." So the Vulg. -considerabam."

The Hebrew word, -shobhêr," which it translates is very unusual in this sense. It ordinarily means to -break" or -burst," and hence some have rendered -and broke my way through the walls," and even -made my way over the broken fragments;" while the LXX. has καὶ ᾔμην συντρίβων ἐν τῷ τείχει Ἱερουσαλήμ. The similar late Hebrew verb -sabhar," rendered -hope" (Esther 9:1; Isaiah 38:18; Psalms 119:166), -wait" (Psalms 104:27; Psalms 145:15), -tarry" (Ruth 1:13), is probably only a variant of the word which occurs here. It was the misunderstanding of this word which caused Rashi to suggest in his note on Nehemiah 2:12 that the object of Nehemiah and his companions was to break down portions of the wall that remained, in order that on the next morning the Jews might the more readily assent to his proposals!

broken down, … consumed with fire Cf. Nehemiah 1:3; Nehemiah 2:3. It is uncertain whether the Hebrew text had -wall" or -walls." The LXX. and Latin versions both have the singular (τείχει, murum). The traditional Hebrew vocalization favours the plural.