We know nothing about a Water Gate
in pre-exilic Jerusalem. To the people of Nehemiah’s day, however, the remains of this gate (with obviously a track winding down into the valley below) were well-known. Instead, though, of rebuilding this gate, Pedaiah’s men built a non-gated wall on a new foundation somewhat uphill from this ancient Water Gate (to a point opposite
). Reconstructing this gate—given the difficult terrain—may well have been seen as too time-consuming. We come across the Water Gate again in the public meeting of Nehemiah 8:1–18.
26 and the temple servants living on Ophel repaired to a point opposite the Water Gate on the east and the projecting tower.