And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
Ver. 13. By the gate of the valley] By which men went into the valley of Jehoshaphat, Joel 3:2; Joel 3:12. The Septuagint call it Portam Galilae, the gate of dead men's skulls; because that way they went out to Golgotha.
Even before the dragon well] So called, either because some venomous serpent had been found there; or because the waters ran out of the mouth of a brazen serpent; or because they ran creepingly, softly, as the waters of Shiloah, Isaiah 8:6 .
And to the dung port] Where was their common dunghill, a sewer to the city; near whereunto ran the brook Kidron, or the town sewer.
And viewed the wall of Jerusalem] Junius rendereth it, Ubi effringebam de muris, Where I broke off a piece of the wall; sc. that I might try the soundness or unsoundness of that which remaineth of it, that I might know whether it needed to be all pulled down, or whether it might be built upon. Our translators read it, sober, not shober; and thence the different interpretation.
Which were broken down] Asher hem perutsim: Hem, with an open Mem, which is not usual (הס pro המ); to set forth, as some think, the rupture and openness of the walls, so much bewailed by this good man in this chapter. The final form for the מ was not used. Hebrew Text Note