490 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS
the city shall be rebuilt for Yahweh from the Tower of Hananel to the Comer
Gate. The city is Jerusalem (T; Kiml:ii), and the verb bnh in this case means "re-
build" (cf. Josh 6:26; Amos 9: 14; Ezek 36:36). Jerusalem will be rebuilt, not for
Israel, but for Yahweh. What follows is a walking tour of the city's boundaries
before its destruction, beginning in the northeast quadrant and proceeding in
counterclockwise fashion until it ends up near where it began. Kiml:ii thinks the
description is of a Jerusalem larger than before, but this is probably not the case.
The Tower of Hananel was located at the northwest corner of the Temple
complex, not far from the Fish Gate (Weiser; Simons 1952: 231; Bahat and
Rubinstein 1990: 30-31; cf. Neh 12:39). The citadel of 1Mace13:52, also the
Antonia Fortress of Herod (Josephus, Wars v 238-47), may correspond to this
tower or at least mark the spot where it stood (Vincent 1934-35: v; Benoit
1975; Bahat and Rubenstein 1990: 47, 55). The Corner Gate was Jerusalem's
westernmost boundary, situated approximately where the present Jaffa Gate is
located. It was 400 cubits (180+ meters) west of the Ephraim Gate (Vincent
1934-35: vi; Mazar, EncMiqr 3: 818; cf. 2 Kgs 14:13; 2 Chr 25:23), known also
as the Benjamin Gate (Press 1953: 127; see Note for 37:13), through which
Jeremiah tried to exit the city on his way to Anathoth when the Babylonian
siege was lifted. According to 2 Chr 26:9, King Uzziah provided the Corner
Gate with a watchtower. This gate, referred to also in Zech 14: 10, may mark the
spot of the later Hippicus Tower (T: "tower of Piqqus"; present-day "David's
Tower"), which is mentioned often by Josephus in his description of Jerusa-
lem's walls (Wars ii 439; v 144-47, 161-65; cf. Simons 1952: 234).
The location of the Corner Gate near the present Jaffa Gate assumes an
eighth-century B.C. city expansion and settlement on the Western Hill, which
was argued by some scholars already in the mid-twentieth century (Simons
1952: 226-81), and now appears certain in light of Avigad's 1968-71 excava-
tions. These excavations uncovered not only a section of the so-called "Broad
Wall" but numerous artifacts dating from the eighth and seventh centuries
(Avigad l 970a; l 970b; 1972; 1975; 1983: 23-60; Geva 1979). Other excavations
in the Armenian Garden (on the Ben-Hinnom Valley ridge) also confirm a
late-eighth or early-seventh-century settlement on the Western Hill, which
ended with the Babylonian destruction of the city (Gibson 1987). The descrip-
tion of the Potsherd Gate at the edge of the Ben-Hinnom Valley in Jer 19:2
makes it clear that Jerusalem's city wall had a gate on the Southwestern Hill
(Simons 1952: 230). Other predictions of Jerusalem's rebuilding are found in
3:17; 30:18; 33:4-9; cf. Ezekiel 40-43. Topographical and structural details of
preexilic Jerusalem are fully discussed in M. Burrows, "Jerusalem," IDB E-J,
843-66 (seep. 853 for the city plan). Other city plans are contained in Bahat
and Rubinstein 1990: 30-31. For surveys of recent archaeological work in Je-
rusalem, including tomb discoveries in the Ben-Hinnom and Kidron Valleys,
see Mazar et al., "Jerusalem: Early Periods and the First Temple Period,"
NEAEHL 2: 698-716; also Avigad and Geva, "Jerusalem: The Second Temple
Period," NEAEHL 2: 717-57.