“elders have ceased from the city gate.” In the biblical culture of the Old Testament it was the custom that the elders of a city would sit at the city gate (Gen. 19:1, 9; Deut. 21:19; 22:15; 25:7; Josh. 20:4; Ruth 4:11; 1 Sam. 4:18; Esther 2:19, 21; 3:2; Lam. 5:14; Dan. 2:49). The Hebrew word translated as “ceased” is related to the word “Sabbath,” and during the Babylonian Captivity the land would get a chance to rest and have a “Sabbath” (cp. 2 Chron. 36:21). So during the “Sabbath” for the land, normal activity ceased, like elders judging in the gates and young men playing music for weddings, celebrations, and funerals.

[For more on the elders at the gate, see commentary on Ruth 4:11; and for Wisdom being at the city gate, see commentary on Prov. 1:21.]