John Gill Commentary Nehemiah 3

Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the
priests
This was the grandson of Jeshua or Joshua the high priest, his father's name was Joiakim, (Nehemiah 12:10) , being high priest, and rising first, he set a good example both to the priests and to the people, and served no doubt greatly to animate and encourage them:

and they built the sheep gate ;
so called, because the sheep were led through it to the temple, and near it was the sheep market, where they were sold, and the sheep pool, where the sacrifices were washed; and this being near the temple, and for the service of it, the priests undertook that; not that they laboured with their hands at it, though it is possible some of them might; but they were at the expense of it, employed labourers, and paid them, and directed them, and had the oversight of them: this gate was to the south of the city; and Rauwolff

they sanctified it ;
this being for sacred use, and they sacred persons; and this the first part of the building, they prayed for a blessing on it, and in it on the whole work undertaken, of which this was the firstfruits:

and set up the doors of it ;
and so finished it:

even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of
Hananeel ;
so far they built, and what they built they sanctified. The tower of Meah, or a "hundred", as the word signifies, might be so called, either because it was one hundred cubits from the sheep gate on one side, and as many from the tower of Hananeel on the other side, standing between both; or because it was one hundred cubits high: these two towers, perhaps, were firm and strong, and needed no repair, since no mention is made of any; though they seem to me to be one and the same tower; see (Jeremiah 31:38) (Zechariah 14:10) .

F21 says, it was still standing by Moriah, the mountain of the temple, which the Turks have taken to themselves, and built on it a Turkish mosque or temple. Near the gate you see still, he says, the sheep pond, which is large and deep, wherein the Nethinims used to wash the beasts, and then gave them to the priests; it is said ^F23 to lead to the mount of Olives, to Bethany, to Jericho, the desert, and all the east country to Jordan:

FOOTNOTES:

• F21: Travels, par. 3. c. 3. p. 226, 228.
• F23: Vid. Quistorp. in loc.

And next to him built the men of Jericho
The posterity of those that formerly inhabited that city; these began where Eliashib and the priests ended, and went on from there:

and next to them;
or rather "to him", the high priest:

built Zaccur the son of Imri;
who probably was the chief of the men of Jericho.

But the fish gate the sons of Hassenaah built
So called, because fish was brought from the sea coasts through it, and near it was the fish market; this also was southward, according to Dr. Lightfoot ^F24; others say northward; some say it led to the sea of Galilee, Jordan, and all the east and north country: but it is most likely to be westward towards the Mediterranean sea, Tyre, and Joppa, from where fish were brought;

And Rauwolff says ^F25 it is still standing towards the west, behind Mount Sion, and over against Mount Gihon, see (2 Chronicles 33:14) he also says, this gate was called the gate of Hebron, because the road of Hebron went through it, which is about seven or eight hours' walking distant from it:

who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the
locks thereof, and the bars thereof ;
completely finished it.

FOOTNOTES:

• F24: Chorograph. Cent. of the Land of Israel, c. 26. p. 27. vol. 2.
• F25: Ut supra, (Travels, par. 3. c. 3.) p. 226, 227.

And next unto them repaired Meremoth, the son of Uriah, the son
of Koz
And the men under him; see (Ezra 8:33) , this part of the wall on which they worked was not wholly demolished, only weakened, and therefore did not rebuild it, but repaired and strengthened it, and this phrase is used all along afterwards:

and next unto them repaired Meshullam, the sort of Berechiah, the son
of Meshezabeel: and next unto them repaired Zadok, the son of Baana ;
but who they were cannot be said.

And next unto them the Tekoites repaired
The inhabitants of Tekoa, a city in the tribe of Judah; see (Amos 1:1)

but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord ;either of Nehemiah, as some, or rather of the lord and prince appointed over their families, as Aben Ezra, to whom they would not be subject; though it seems best, with Jarchi, to understand it of the Lord their God, by whose command this work was begun; but they refused to give any assistance to it with their purses or presence, but withdrew from it, as refractory oxen withdraw their necks from the yoke. This is observed to their disgrace, when the common people of their city were ready to work, and did.