Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

To Shuppim and Hosah the lot came forth westward,.... Of Shuppim no mention is before made; of Hosah, see Ch1 26:10 their lot was to be placed at the gates on the western wall, where were four; the two more southward being assigned to the sons of Obededom, whose lot also was southward, are taken notice of under the division in the preceding verse; Parbar was another, Ch1 26:18, and another follows here: with the gate Shallecheth, by the causeway of the going up; this gate was in later times called Coponius, from the name of a Roman commander, in the times of Herod, who might give it this name on his account; it might have the name of Shallecheth either from "sending out", or carrying out the filth of the temple through it; or rather from "casting up the causeway", as here expressed, which was the going up, or ascent, Solomon made, by which he went up to the temple, Kg1 20:5 and which agrees with the description Josephus (a) gives of one of the gates on the western wall, that it led to the royal palace, the valley between being filled up for the passage; on each side of which causeway, it is said, grew oaks and teil trees, see Isa 6:13 which served both to keep up the causeway, and to make a fine, pleasant, shady walk for the king to pass through to the temple; all which are observed by Dr. Lightfoot (b): ward against ward; for as the gates answered one another, so the wards or watches at them. (a) Antiqu. l. 15. c. 11. sect. 5. (b) Ut supra, (Prospect of the Temple), c. 5. sect. 1.