And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.
There shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate - (2 Chronicles 33:14; Nehemiah 3:3. At the restoration of the city after the return from Babylon "the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof;" Nehemiah 12:31; Nehemiah 12:39, where the order of the gates is, "the gate of Ephraim ... the old gate ... the fish gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even unto the sheep gate, and ... the prison gate;" the opposite quarter to "the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate"). Situated on the east of the lower city, north of the sheep gate (Maurer); near the stronghold of David in Millo, between Zion and the lower city toward the west (Jerome). This verse describes the state of the city while besieged by Nebuchadnezzar. It was through the fish gate that he entered the city. It received its name from the fish market, which was near it. Through it passed those who used to bring fish from the lake of Tiberias and Jordan. It answers to what is now called the Damascus gate (Henderson).
And an howling from the second - namely, the gate which was second in dignity (Calvin). Or, the second, or lower part of the city. Appropriately, the fish gate, or extreme end of the lower part of the city, first resounds with the cries of the citizens as the foe approaches; then, as he advances further, that part of the city itself-namely, its inner part; lastly, when the foe is actually come, and has burst in, the hills, the higher ones especially, Zion and Moriah, on which the upper city and temple were founded (Maurer). The second, or lower city, answers to Akra, north of Zion, and separated from it by the valley of Tyropoeon, running down to the pool of Siloam (Henderson). The Hebrew х hamishneh (H4932)] also, 2 Chronicles 34:22, "in the college," margin, in the school or second part, is translated "college" (2 Kings 22:14, "Huldah the prophetess ... dwelt in Jerusalem in the college," margin, in the second part); so Vatablus would translate here. The root х shaanah (H8138)] means to repeat or double. The Rabbis use the word for doctrine or learning, whether from the repeating of the lessons over and over again, or from х shaanan (H8150)], 'to make sharp' or 'acute.' At all events, the second or interior part of the city, near the king's palace, was where the college of the sons of the prophets probably was: at least, Huldah lived there. Not even the quarter where the Jews' prophets were was to escape from the violence of the enemy.
And a great crashing from the hills - not here those outside, but those within the walls, Zion, Moriah, and Ophel.