Albert Barnes Commentary Zephaniah 1:10

"And in that day, saith Jehovah, there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills." — Zephaniah 1:10 (ASV)

A cry from the fish-gate - “"The fish-gate" was probably in the north of the wall of "the second city."

In Nehemiah’s rebuilding, the restoration began at the sheep-gate (Nehemiah 3:1). This gate was so called, no doubt, because the sheep for the sacrifices were brought in by it. Being near the temple, it was repaired by the priests. The rebuilding then ascended northward, by two towers, the towers of Meah and Hananeel. Following this, two companies repaired some undescribed part of the wall (Nehemiah 3:2), and then another company built the fish-gate (Nehemiah 3:3).

Four companies are then mentioned who repaired, in order, up to the old gate; this gate was repaired by another company (Nehemiah 3:4–6). Three more companies repaired beyond these, and they fortified Jerusalem up to the broad wall (Nehemiah 3:7–8). After three more sections were repaired by individuals, two other groups repaired a second measured portion and the tower of the furnaces (Nehemiah 3:9–11).

This order is reversed in the account of the dedication of the walls. The people being divided into two great companies of them that give thanks (Nehemiah 12:31–38), a place near "the tower of the furnaces" was the central point from which both groups parted to encircle the city in opposite directions.

In this account, two additional gates are mentioned: "the gate of Ephraim" (Nehemiah 12:39), between the "broad wall" and the "old gate," and "the prison-gate," beyond "the sheep-gate," from where the repairs had begun.

"The gate of Ephraim" had obviously not been repaired because, for some reason, it had not been destroyed. Had it been rebuilt, Nehemiah, who describes the reconstruction of the wall so minutely, would undoubtedly have mentioned it. It was clearly to the north, as it led to Ephraim.

But the tower of Hananeel must have been a very marked tower. In Zechariah, Jerusalem is measured from north to south, from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses (Zechariah 14:10).

It was then itself at the northeast corner of Jerusalem, where towers were of greatest importance to strengthen the wall and to command the approach to the wall from either direction. "The fish-gate," then, lying between it and "the gate of Ephraim," must have been on the north side of the city, and thus on the side from which the Chaldean invasions came.

Yet it must have been well inside the present city, because the city itself was enlarged by Herod Agrippa on the north, just as it was unaccountably contracted on the south. The limits of Jerusalem at that time are thus defined.

For Josephus thus describes "the second wall" (B. J. v. 42): "It took its beginning from that gate which they called 'Gennath,' which belonged to the first wall; it only encompassed the northern quarter of the city and reached as far as the tower of Antonia." The tower of Antonia was situated at the northwest angle of the corner of the temple. The other end of the wall, the Gennath or "garden" gate, must have opened on cultivated land; and Josephus speaks of the gardens on the north and northwest of the city which were destroyed by Titus in leveling the ground (B. J. v. 32).

But near the tower of Hippicus, the northwestern extremity of the first wall, no ancient remains have been discovered by excavation; but they have been traced north, from "an ancient Jewish semi-circular arch, resting on piers 18 feet high, now buried in rubbish."

These old foundations have been traced at three places in a line on the east of the Holy Sepulchre (which therefore lay outside the city) up to the judgment gate, but not north of it.

The line from west to east, that is, to the tower of Antonia, is marked generally by "very large stones, evidently of Jewish work, in the walls of houses, especially in the lower parts." They are chiefly in the line of the Via Dolorosa.

"The fish-gate" probably had its name from a fish-market (markets being in the open places near the gates (see 2 Kings 7:1; Nehemiah 13:16, 13:19)), the fish being brought either from the Lake of Tiberias or from Joppa. Near it, the wall ended that Manasseh, after his restoration from Babylon, built without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley (2 Chronicles 33:14).

This, being unprotected by its situation, was the weakest part of the city: "The most ancient of the three walls could be considered as impregnable, as much on account of its extreme thickness, as of the height of the mountain on which it was built, and the depth of the valleys at its base; and David, Solomon and the other kings neglected nothing to place it in this state." Where they had made themselves strong, there God’s judgment would find them.

And a howling from the second - city, as the word "city" is supplied from Nehemiah, who mentions the prefect set over it. It was here that Huldah the prophetess lived, who prophesied the evils to come upon Jerusalem after Josiah would be gathered to his grave in peace (Compare to 2 Kings 22:20; 2 Chronicles 34:28).

It was probably the lower city, enclosed by the second wall. This was a second or new city, compared to the original city of David on Mount Moriah. The enemy, having penetrated through the fish-gate, would first enter this part, then take the strongest part of the city itself.

Gareb (Jeremiah 31:39) and Bezetha were outside the town at that time; they would therefore already be occupied by the enemy before the city itself was entered.

A great crashing from the hills - These are probably Zion and Mount Moriah on which the temple stood, and so the capture is described as complete. Here there would be not just a cry or howling, but utter destruction. Mount Moriah was the seat of the worship of God; on Mount Zion was the state, and the abode of the wealthy. In human eyes, they were impregnable. The Jebusites mocked at David’s siege, thinking their city impregnable (2 Samuel 5:6); but God was with David, and he took it.

He and his successors fortified it yet more, but its true defense was that the LORD is round about his people (Psalms 125:2). When He withdrew His protection, this natural strength became their destruction, tempting them to resist first the Chaldaeans, then the Romans. Human strength is merely a great crash, falling by its own weight and burying its owner.

"This threefold cry, from three parts of the city, had a fulfillment before the destruction by the Romans. 'In the lower part of the city Simon tyrannized, and in the middle John raged, and “there was a great crashing from the hills,” that is, from the temple and citadel where Eleazar was, who stained the very altar of the temple with blood, and in the courts of the Lord made a pool of blood from various corpses.'"

Cyril: "In the assaults of an enemy, the inhabitants are always accustomed to flee to the tops of the hills, thinking that the difficulty of access will be a hindrance to him and will cut off the assaults of the pursuers. But when God strikes, and requires of those who despise Him the penalties for their sin, neither the most towered city, nor impregnable circuits of walls, nor height of hills, nor rough rocks, nor pathless difficult terrain, will avail the sufferers. Repentance alone saves, softening the Judge and allaying His wrath, and readily inviting the Creator, in His inherent goodness, to His appropriate gentleness.

It is better to implore Him with all our might that we may not offend Him. But since human nature is prone to evil, and in many things we all offend (James 3:2), let us at least by repentance invite the Lord of all, Who is by nature kind, to His customary clemency."