Verse 1
1. Eliashib the high priest He must now have been an old man. Compare Ezra 10:6, note. The priests seem to have built the gates and walls nearest to the temple.
Sheep gate This we understand from John 5:2 (where see note) to have been near the pool of Bethesda, called the “king’s pool” in Nehemiah 2:14, and now known as the “Fountain of the Virgin,” in the Kedron valley, near the southeastern corner of the city. The gate was probably so called because the sheep used in the sacrifices were brought through it into Jerusalem.
They sanctified it By some dedicatory service.
And set up the doors Raised them and hung them on their hinges, or set them in sockets or upon pivots, in which they were to turn. One gate might have several doors.
Even unto Here in thought we may supply the words, they builded the walls. They not only builded the sheep gate, but also the city wall on the eastern side as far as to the towers here mentioned. The tower of Meah and that of Hananeel must have been located in the eastern wall, but their places can only be designated by conjecture. See the plan of Jerusalem on opposite page.
They sanctified it Not only the tower of Meah, but their entire work.
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