And I went out by night, by the gate of the
valley
Where that formerly stood, for the gates had been burnt, and were
not as yet rebuilt; this was the gate that led to the valley of
Jehoshaphat, according to some; or rather to the valley of dead
bodies, through which the brook Kidron ran, see ( 2 Chronicles
26:9 ) ( Jeremiah
31:4 ) it is the gate through which Christ went to Calvary;
it led to Shiloh, Bethhoron, and Golan:
even before the dragon well;
so called from its winding about, just as a crooked winding river
is called serpentine; though some think here stood an image of a
dragon, either in wood, or stone, or brass, out of the mouth of
which the water flowed from the well; and others, that since the
desolations of Jerusalem, serpents or dragons had their abode
here:
and to the dung port;
by which they used to carry the dung out of the city, and by
which they went to Joppa, the sea, and all the western parts:
and viewed the walls of Jerusalem:
in what condition they were, what was necessary to be wholly
taken down, and where to begin to build: it must have been a
moonlight night or he could not have taken a view; for to have
carried torches or lamps with them would have discovered them:
and the gates thereof were consumed with fire;
nothing of them remained.
