ירמיהו, פרק כ״ו, פסוק י׳

An angry mob of priests and false prophets seized Jeremiah, demanding his execution for the harsh prophecies he had delivered. The noise of this riot spilled out from the Temple courtyard, echoing all the way to the royal palace. Top government officials heard the deafening shouts and commotion [מצודת דוד, אברבנאל], quickly learning that the mob had captured the prophet and was calling for his death [רש"י, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Realizing the urgency, these officials rushed from the palace to the Temple Mount. Their goal was to stop the chaos and transfer the matter to an orderly legal process, ensuring that an innocent man would not be put to death without a fair trial [מלבי"ם].

Upon arriving at the Temple, the officials took their seats inside the space of what was known as the New Gate [מצודת דוד]. This specific location was chosen deliberately. By sitting in the gate, the officials avoided entering the highly sanctified areas of the Temple courtyard where sitting was strictly forbidden. The gate served as a non-sacred space where they were permitted to sit and conduct a trial [ביאור שטיינזלץ, אברבנאל]. Furthermore, gathering at a gate was the standard, accepted practice for a court of law to convene [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The title of this gate carries different meanings among the commentators. One approach views the name through a historical and physical lens, suggesting that it was a gate that had been destroyed and subsequently rebuilt. Some specify that Nebuchadnezzar's army smashed the eastern gate of the Temple during the exile of King Jehoiachin, and King Zedekiah later repaired and restored it [רש"י]. Others simply note that it was an older gate that had collapsed and was reconstructed [מצודת דוד, רד"ק, אברבנאל]. A contrasting spiritual approach, rooted in the teachings of the Sages, identifies this location as the eastern gate of the Temple Mount but argues that its name has nothing to do with its physical structure. Instead, it was called the New Gate because the scribes and scholars would sit there to study and deduce new insights into Jewish law [רד"ק, אברבנאל].