2 Kings 11:6 - Exposition

And a third part shall be at the gate of Sur. The "gate of Sur" is not elsewhere mentioned. It seems to be called in Chronicles ( 2 Chronicles 23:5 ) "the gate of the foundation" ( שַׂעַר יְסוֹד ) instead of "the gate of Sur" ( שַׁעַר סוּר ), as here—the one reading having evidently arisen out of the other by a corruption. We must understand one of the palace gates, but which of them is uncertain. And a third part at the gate behind the guard ; called in 2 Kings 11:19 "the gate of the guard ," and shown there to have been on the cast side of the palace, where it faced the temple, and abutted on the Tyropoeon. So shall ye keep the watch of the house— i.e; of the "king's house," or palace, which is contrasted with the "house of the Lord" of the next verse— that it be not broken down. This rendering is scarcely accepted at the present time by any writers. Ewald renders, "according to custom;" Keil, "for defense;" Furst, "alternately;" our Revisers, "and be a barrier." The Hebrew word used occurs nowhere else, and it seems impossible to determine its sense. The LXX . simply omit it.