Bible Word of the Day
Dung Gate (Refuse Gate, Gate of the Essenes, One of the Gates of Jerusalem)
Meaning
The Dung Gate also called the Refuse Gate was one of the many gates leading into and out of the city of Jerusalem. This particular gate was located on the southwest corner of the city. This gate led into the “Valley of Hinnom.” The Valley of Hinnom also called the “Valley of the Son of Hinnom” was a low lying valley the people of Jerusalem used as the city dump. In addition the Valley of Hinnom was the location where the people of the Southern Nation of Judah offered their children to the fire god Molech and to Baal. And it was because of this act that God through the prophet Jeremiah gave the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.
This gate may have also been called the “Potsherd Gate.” Potsherds were broken pottery fragments and was an example of the refuse thrown into the Hinnom Valley. During New Testament times the gate was known as the Gate of the Essenes. The Essenes were a Jewish sect who were very zealous and isolated themselves away from general society. They somewhat resembled the Pharisees in their zealousness for the law. They lived lives of ritual purity and separation. They originated about 100 B.C., and disappeared from history after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
“Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the Refuse Gate.” (Book of Nehemiah 3:11)
“And go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I will tell you, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will tingle.'” (Book of Jeremiah 19:2-3)