Reference: Gate
American
The gates of eastern walled towns were usually of wood, Jg 16:3, often covered with thick plates of iron or copper, Ps 107:16; Isa 45:2; Ac 12:10, secured by bolts and bars, De 3:5; 1Ki 4:13, and flanked by towers, 2Sa 18:24,33. A city was usually regarded as taken when its gates were won, De 28:52; Jg 5:8. Hence "gate" sometimes signifies power, dominion; almost in the same sense as the Turkish sultan's palace is called the Porte, or Gate. God promises Abraham that his posterity shall possess the gates of their enemies- their towns, their fortresses, Ge 22:17. So too, "the gates of hell," that is, the power of hell, or hell itself.
In oriental cities there was always an open space or place adjacent to each gate, and these were at the same time the market places, and the place of justice, Ge 23:10-18; Ru 4:1-12; De 16:18; 21:19; 25:6-7; Pr 22:22; Am 5:10,12,15. There, too, people assembled to spend their leisure hours, Ge 19:1. Hence "they that sit in the gate" is put for idlers, loungers, who are coupled with drunkards, Ps 69:12. The woes of a city were disclosed in the mourning or loneliness of these places of resort, Isa 14:31; Jer 14:2. Here too the public proclamations were made, and the messages of prophets delivered, Pr 1:21; 8:3; Isa 29:21; Jer 17:19; 26:10. Near the gate of a city, but without it, executions took place, 1Ki 21:13; Ac 7:58; Heb 13:12. To exalt the gate of a house through pride, increased one's exposure to robbery, Pr 17:19. To open it wide and high was significant of joy and welcome, as when the Savior ascended to heaven, Ps 24:7,9; and the open gates of the new Jerusalem in contrast with those of earthly cities carefully closed and guarded at nightfall, indicate the happy security of that world of light, Re 21:25.
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And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening. And Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. Then Lot saw [them] and stood up to meet them. And he bowed down [with his] face to the ground.
that I will certainly bless you and greatly multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the shore of the sea. And your offspring will take possession of the gate of his enemies.
Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city, [and] said, "No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field and the cave which [is] in it, I [also] give it to you in the sight of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead." read more. And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "{If only you will hear me}--I give the price of the field. Take [it] from me that I may bury my dead there." And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him "My lord, hear me. A [piece of] land [worth] four hundred shekels of silver--what [is] that between me and you? Bury your dead." Then Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver {at the merchants' current rate}. So the field of Ephron which [was] in the Machpelah, which [was] near Mamre--the field and the cave which [was] in it, with all the trees that [were] in the field, which [were] within all its surrounding boundaries--{passed} to Abraham as a property in the presence of the Hittites, with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city.
All of these [were] fortified towns with high walls, gates, and bars, {apart from} very many [of] the villages of the open country.
"You shall appoint judges and officials for you in all your {towns} that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you throughout your tribes, and you shall render [for] the people {righteous judgments}.
then his father and his mother shall take hold of him, and they shall bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his {town},
And then the firstborn that she bears {shall represent his dead brother}, so that his name is not blotted out from Israel. But if the man [does] not want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister-in-law shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and she shall say, 'My brother-in-law refused {to perpetuate his brother's name} in Israel, [for] he is not willing {to marry me}.'
And it shall besiege you in all your towns {until your high and fortified walls fall}, which you [are] trusting in {throughout your land}; and it shall besiege you in all of your towns in all of your land that Yahweh your God has given to you.
God chose new [leaders], then war [was at the] gates; a small shield or a spear was not seen among forty thousand in Israel.
But Samson lay until the middle of the night; he got up in the middle of the night and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two door posts, tore them loose with the bar, put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is {in front of} Hebron.
And Boaz had gone up [to] the [city] gate and sat there. And look, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken [was] passing by. And he said, "Come over here to sit, {friend}." And he came over and sat. And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit here." And they sat. read more. And he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who returned from the countryside [of] Moab, is selling the tract of land which [was] for our brother Elimelech. And I thought {I would tell you} and say, '{Buy it in the presence of} those sitting and before the elders of my people,' if you want to redeem [it], redeem [it]. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem [it], and I [am] after you." And he said, "I want to redeem [it]." And Boaz said, "On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead [man], [in order] to raise up [for] the name of the dead his inheritance." And the redeemer said, "I am not able to redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance. You redeem for yourself my kinsman-redemption, for I am not able to redeem [it]." (Now this {was the custom in former times} in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his fellow countryman. This [was] the manner of attesting in Israel.) So the redeemer said to Boaz, "Acquire [it] for yourself," and he removed his sandal. And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, "You [are] witnesses today that I have acquired all that [was] for Elimelech and that [was] for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi. And also Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I have acquired as a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his relatives and from the gate of his [birth] place. You [are] witnesses today." And all of the people who [were] at the gate and the elders said, "[We are] witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman coming into your house as Rachel and as Leah, who {together} built the house of Israel. May you have strength in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem. And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah from the offspring that Yahweh will give to you from this young woman."
Now David [was] sitting between the two gates, and the sentinel went up to the roof of the gate by the wall and he lifted up his eyes and watched, and look, a man [was] running by himself.
The king was upset, and he went up to the upper room of the gate and wept. He said as he went, "My son, Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom. {If only} I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son."
Then the two men, {scoundrels}, came, sat opposite him, and the {scoundrels} witnessed against Naboth before the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king," so they brought him outside of the city and stoned him with stones, and he died.
Lift up your heads, O gates, and rise up, O ancient doorways, that the king of glory may enter.
Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift up, O ancient doorways, that the king of glory may enter.
Those sitting at [the] gate talk about me [as] also [the] songs of [the] drunkards.
On a {busy corner} she cries out, at the entrances of the gates in the city, she speaks her sayings:
He who loves transgression loves strife; he who builds his high thresholds seeks destruction.
Do not rob the poor because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate;
Wail, gate! Cry, city! Melt, Philistia, all of you! For smoke [is] coming from [the] north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.
those who mislead a person into sin with a word and set a trap for the {arbitrator} in the gate and guide away [the] righteous by emptiness.
"I myself will go before you, and I will level [the] {mountains}. I will break [the] doors of bronze and cut through[the] bars of iron.
"Judah mourns, and her gates languish, they are in mourning on the ground, and the cry of lament of Jerusalem goes up.
Thus said Yahweh to me, "Go, and you must stand in the {People's Gate} through which the kings of Judah enter, and through which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.
When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the house of the king [to] the temple of Yahweh, and they sat in the entrance of the New Gate of Yahweh's [temple].
They hate the one who reproves in the gate and they abhor the one who speaks honestly.
For I know your transgressions [are] many and your sins [are] numerous, [you] foes of [the] righteous, those who take a bribe, and {those who} push aside [the] poor [ones] in the gate!
Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate; perhaps Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious [to] the remnant of Joseph.
And [after they] had driven [him] out of the city, they began to stone [him], and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And [after they] had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened for them by itself, and they went out [and] went forward [along] one narrow street, and at once the angel departed from him.
Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, in order that he might sanctify the people by his own blood.
And its gates will never be shut by day (for there will be no night there),
Easton
(1.) Of cities, as of Jerusalem (Jer 37:13; Ne 1:3; 2:3; 3:3), of Sodom (Ge 19:1), of Gaza (Jg 16:3).
(2.) Of royal palaces (Ne 2:8).
(3.) Of the temple of Solomon (1Ki 6:34-35; 2Ki 18:16); of the holy place (1Ki 6:31-32; Eze 41:23-24); of the outer courts of the temple, the beautiful gate (Ac 3:2).
(4.) Tombs (Mt 27:60).
(5.) Prisons (Ac 12:10; 16:27).
(6.) Caverns (1Ki 19:13).
(7.) Camps (Ex 32:26-27; Heb 13:12).
The materials of which gates were made were,
(1.) Iron and brass (Ps 107:16; Isa 45:2; Ac 12:10).
(2.) Stones and pearls (Isa 54:12; Re 21:21).
(3.) Wood (Jg 16:3) probably.
At the gates of cities courts of justice were frequently held, and hence "judges of the gate" are spoken of (De 16:18; 17:8; 21:19; 25:6-7, etc.). At the gates prophets also frequently delivered their messages (Pr 1:21; 8:3; Isa 29:21; Jer 17:19-20; 26:10). Criminals were punished without the gates (1Ki 21:13; Ac 7:59). By the "gates of righteousness" we are probably to understand those of the temple (Ps 118:19). "The gates of hell" (R.V., "gates of Hades") Mt 16:18, are generally interpreted as meaning the power of Satan, but probably they may mean the power of death, denoting that the Church of Christ shall never die.
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And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening. And Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. Then Lot saw [them] and stood up to meet them. And he bowed down [with his] face to the ground.
And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and he said, "Whoever [is] for Yahweh, to me." And all the sons of Levi were gathered to him. And he said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'Put each his sword on his side. Go {back and forth} from gate to gate in the camp, and kill, each his brother and each his friend and each his close relative.'"
"You shall appoint judges and officials for you in all your {towns} that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you throughout your tribes, and you shall render [for] the people {righteous judgments}.
"{If a matter is too difficult for you}, [for example disputes] between blood and blood, between legal claim and legal claim and between assault and assault [and between] matters of discernment in your {towns}, then you shall get up and you shall go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose;
then his father and his mother shall take hold of him, and they shall bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his {town},
And then the firstborn that she bears {shall represent his dead brother}, so that his name is not blotted out from Israel. But if the man [does] not want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister-in-law shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and she shall say, 'My brother-in-law refused {to perpetuate his brother's name} in Israel, [for] he is not willing {to marry me}.'
But Samson lay until the middle of the night; he got up in the middle of the night and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two door posts, tore them loose with the bar, put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is {in front of} Hebron.
But Samson lay until the middle of the night; he got up in the middle of the night and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two door posts, tore them loose with the bar, put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is {in front of} Hebron.
He made doors of olive wood for the doorway of the inner sanctuary, [as well as for] the doorpost of the fifth doorframe. [On] the two doors of olive wood he made carvings of cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers, and he overlaid them with gold {by beating} out the gold on the cherubim and the palm tree images.
and two doors of cypress wood; one door [with] two folding panels and the second door [with] two folding panels. He carved cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers and overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work.
It happened at the moment Elijah heard, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood [at] the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice [came] to him and said, "{Elijah, why are you here}?"
Then the two men, {scoundrels}, came, sat opposite him, and the {scoundrels} witnessed against Naboth before the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king," so they brought him outside of the city and stoned him with stones, and he died.
They replied to me, "The survivors in the province who have survived the captivity are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned in the fire."
I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad when the city of my ancestors' burial site is ruined and her gates are consumed by fire?"
Also, a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's land reserve, that he should give me timber for laying the beams for the gates of the citadel of the house and for the walls of the city, and for the house which I will enter." And the king gave [permission] to me, according to the good hand of God on me.
The sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate. They laid its beams and erected its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
Open to me [the] gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them [and] give thanks to Yah.
On a {busy corner} she cries out, at the entrances of the gates in the city, she speaks her sayings:
those who mislead a person into sin with a word and set a trap for the {arbitrator} in the gate and guide away [the] righteous by emptiness.
"I myself will go before you, and I will level [the] {mountains}. I will break [the] doors of bronze and cut through[the] bars of iron.
And I will {make} your battlements of ruby, and your gates of stones of beryl, and all your wall of precious stones.
Thus said Yahweh to me, "Go, and you must stand in the {People's Gate} through which the kings of Judah enter, and through which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem. And you must say to them, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.
When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the house of the king [to] the temple of Yahweh, and they sat in the entrance of the New Gate of Yahweh's [temple].
{And when} he [was] at the Gate of Benjamin, there [was] {a sentry on duty} whose name [was] Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, {saying}, "You [are] deserting to the Chaldeans!"
And the two doors [were] for the temple and for the sanctuary. And two leaves of a door [were] for [each of] the doors, two hinged leaves of a door: two [were] for the first door, and two leaves of a door [were] for the other door.
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it!
and placed it in his [own] new tomb that he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a large stone to the entrance of the tomb [and] went away.
And a certain man was being carried who was lame {from birth}. {He} was placed every day at the gate of the temple called "Beautiful," [so that he] could ask for charitable gifts from those who were going into the temple [courts].
And they kept on stoning Stephen [as he] was calling out and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
And [after they] had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened for them by itself, and they went out [and] went forward [along] one narrow street, and at once the angel departed from him.
And [after they] had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened for them by itself, and they went out [and] went forward [along] one narrow street, and at once the angel departed from him.
And [after] the jailer was awake and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew [his] sword [and] was about to kill himself, [because he] thought the prisoners had escaped.
Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate, in order that he might sanctify the people by his own blood.
And the twelve gates [are] twelve pearls, each one of the gates was from a single pearl. And the street of the city [is] pure gold, like transparent glass.
Fausets
The oriental resort for business, converse, bargaining, and news (Ge 19:1; 23:10; Ps 69:12), for addresses and reading the law (2Ch 32:6; Ne 8:1,3; Pr 1:21; Jer 17:19), or administering justice (Jos 20:4; Ru 4:1; De 16:18; 21:19). Pr 22:22, "neither oppress the afflicted in the gate," i.e. in the place of justice, in lawsuits. Ps 69:12, "they that sit in the gate speak against Me (Messiah), and I was the song of the drunkards," i.e., not only among drunken revelers, but in the grave deliberations of the judges in the place of justice I was an object of obloquy. Am 5:12, "they turn aside the poor in the gate," i.e. they refuse them their right in the place of justice; (Am 5:10) "they hate him that rebuketh in the gate," namely, the judge who condemns them (Zec 8:16).
Isa 29:21, "they lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate," i.e., they try by bribes and misrepresentations to ensnare into a false decision the judge who would in public court reprove them for their iniquity, or to ensnare the prophet who publicly reproves them (Jer 7:2). "The Sublime Porte," the title for the Sultan of Turkey, is derived from the eastern usage of dispensing law in the gateway. The king's or chief's place of audience (1Ki 22:10; 2Sa 19:8; Job 29:7; La 5:14). The object of a foe's attack and therefore strengthened especially (Jg 5:8; Ps 147:18), shut at nightfall (De 3:5; Jos 2:5,7; 1Sa 23:7). The market place for country produce (2Ki 7:1; Ne 13:16-19). The open spaces near the gates were used for pagan sacrifices (Ac 14:13; 2Ki 23:8).
Josiah defiled "the high places of the gates in the entering in of the gate." The larger gates had two valves, and were plated with metal and secured with locks and bars. Those without iron plating were easily set on fire (Jg 9:52). Sentences of the law were inscribed on and above them, to which allusion occurs De 6:9; an usage followed by Muslims in modern times. Some gates were of solid stones (Re 21:21; Isa 54:12). Massive stone doors are found in ancient houses of Syria, single slabs, several inches thick, 10 ft. high, turning on stone pivots above and below. The king's principal gate at Ispahan afforded sanctuary to criminals (Chardin, 7:368). In Esther's time "none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth" (Es 4:2). "The Beautiful Gate" of Herod's temple (Ac 3:2) was the outer one, made of Corinthian brass, surpassing in costliness even nine others of the outer court, which were covered with gold and silver.
It was so heavy that twenty men were required to close it, but it was found open unexpectedly shortly before the overthrow of Jerusalem (Josephus, B. J., 5:5, sec. 3; 6: 5, sec. 3; contra Apion, 2:9). The doorway consisted of lintel, threshold, and side-posts (Ex 12:7,22). In Ge 22:17, "thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies," the sense is, shall sit in judgment on them, as in the Assyrian sculptures the king is represented sitting in judgment upon prisoners. Thus the Persian satrap in the Lycian Xanthus monument sits at the gate dictating terms to the Greek ambassadors, and Sennacherib, at his tent door, gives judgment on the Jews taken at Lachish (British Museum, 59). In front of the larger edifices in the remains at Persepolis and Nineveh (Khorsabad) are propylaea, or "porches," like that "for Solomon's throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment, covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other" (1Ki 7:7).
The threshold in the Assyrian palaces is one slab of gypsum with cuneatic inscriptions; human-headed bulls with eagles' wings guard the portals, like and probably borrowed from the cherubim which guarded the gate of Eden; besides there are holes 12 in. square, lined round with tiles, with a brick to cover them above and containing small baked clay idols with lynx head and human body, or human head and lion's body, probably like the teraphim, from Arabic tarf "a boundary," and akin to the Persian "telifin" talismans. (See TERAPHIM.) Thus the place of going out and coming in was guarded, as especially sacred, from all evil by the inscriptions, the compound figured gods outside, and the hidden teraphim. Daniel "sat in" such a "gate" before the palace of Babylon as "ruler over the whole province of Babylon" (Da 2:48-49) The courtiers of Ahasuerus attended him "in the gate" similarly (Es 3:2).
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And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening. And Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. Then Lot saw [them] and stood up to meet them. And he bowed down [with his] face to the ground.
that I will certainly bless you and greatly multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the shore of the sea. And your offspring will take possession of the gate of his enemies.
Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city, [and] said,
And they will take [some] of the blood and put [it] on the two doorposts and on the lintel on the houses in which they eat it.
And take a bunch of hyssop and dip [it] into the blood that [is] in the basin and apply [some] of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts. And you will not go out, anyone from the doorway of his house, until morning.
All of these [were] fortified towns with high walls, gates, and bars, {apart from} very many [of] the villages of the open country.
"You shall appoint judges and officials for you in all your {towns} that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you throughout your tribes, and you shall render [for] the people {righteous judgments}.
then his father and his mother shall take hold of him, and they shall bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his {town},
And when [it was time] to shut the gate {for the night}, the men left, and I do not know where they went. Chase after them quickly, for you may catch up [to] them."
So the men chased after them on {the way to the Jordan} at the fords; and they shut the gate behind the pursuers that had gone out after them.
The killer will flee to one of these cities, stand [at] the entrance of the gate of the city, and {state his case to the elders of that city}; and they will take him into the city and give him a place, and he will dwell among them.
God chose new [leaders], then war [was at the] gates; a small shield or a spear was not seen among forty thousand in Israel.
Abimelech came up to the tower and fought against it, and he came near the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire.
And Boaz had gone up [to] the [city] gate and sat there. And look, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken [was] passing by. And he said, "Come over here to sit, {friend}." And he came over and sat.
He made the hall of the throne where he [would] pronounce judgment, the hall of justice, and [it was] covered with cedar from the floor to the rafters.
The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah [were] each sitting on his throne, dressed [in their] robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, [with] all the prophets prophesying before them.
Elisha said, "Hear the word of Yahweh: 'Thus says Yahweh, "At this time tomorrow a seah of wheat bread flour [will sell] for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.'"
And he appointed commanders for battle over the people and gathered them to himself into the public square of the gate of the city. And he spoke to their hearts, saying,
All of the people gathered as one to the public square before the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses that Yahweh had commanded Israel.
He read from it facing the public square before the Water Gate from dawn until noon that day, opposite the men, women, and those with understanding. The ears of all the people [were attentive] to the book of the law.
Tyrian men who lived in [Jerusalem] brought fish and every kind of merchandise and sold [it] on the Sabbath to the descendants of Judah and in Jerusalem. So I quarreled with the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the day of the Sabbath? read more. Did not your ancestors do this also, and our God brought on us all of this disaster and on this city [too]? Now you are adding fierce wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath!" So when it became dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors be shut and said that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I appointed some of my young men over the gates [to prevent] any {goods} being brought in on the day of the Sabbath.
And all of the king's servants who [were] at the gate of the king [were] kneeling and bowing down to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him, but Mordecai did not kneel and bow down.
he went up to the entrance of the gate of the king, for he could not go to the gate of the king in sackcloth.
Those sitting at [the] gate talk about me [as] also [the] songs of [the] drunkards.
Those sitting at [the] gate talk about me [as] also [the] songs of [the] drunkards.
On a {busy corner} she cries out, at the entrances of the gates in the city, she speaks her sayings:
Do not rob the poor because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate;
those who mislead a person into sin with a word and set a trap for the {arbitrator} in the gate and guide away [the] righteous by emptiness.
And I will {make} your battlements of ruby, and your gates of stones of beryl, and all your wall of precious stones.
"Stand in the gate of the house of Yahweh and proclaim there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, all of Judah, [those who] enter through these gates to bow in worship to Yahweh.
Thus said Yahweh to me, "Go, and you must stand in the {People's Gate} through which the kings of Judah enter, and through which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.
Elders are no longer at the gate, young men no longer play stringed instruments.
Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and the chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. And Daniel made a request from the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel [remained] in the court of the king.
They hate the one who reproves in the gate and they abhor the one who speaks honestly.
For I know your transgressions [are] many and your sins [are] numerous, [you] foes of [the] righteous, those who take a bribe, and {those who} push aside [the] poor [ones] in the gate!
These [are] the things that you must do: speak truth, each [of you], with his neighbor; practice trustworthy judgment and peace in your gates.
And a certain man was being carried who was lame {from birth}. {He} was placed every day at the gate of the temple called "Beautiful," [so that he] could ask for charitable gifts from those who were going into the temple [courts].
And the priest of the [temple] of Zeus that was just outside the city brought bulls and garlands to the gates [and] was wanting to offer sacrifice, along with the crowds.
And the twelve gates [are] twelve pearls, each one of the gates was from a single pearl. And the street of the city [is] pure gold, like transparent glass.
Hastings
Morish
Beside the ordinary use of gates for the protection of a city, 'in the gate' was the place where many important things were transacted. When Boaz wanted the question settled respecting Ruth and the inheritance, he went up to the gate: the subject was debated with a nearer relative, then concluded, and witnessed by the elders. Ru 4:1-12; cf. Jos 20:4; 1Sa 4:18; 2Sa 15:2; Ac 14:13. To 'sit in the gate' was a place of honour: "they that sit in the gate speak against me." Ps 69:12. It should have been the place of true judgement and justice, but was not always so. Isa 29:21; Am 5:10,12; Zec 8:16. It was, at least at times, the king's chief place of audience. 2Sa 19:8; 1Ki 22:10; Job 29:7; La 5:14. From this it would be a symbol of power: thus the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church which Christ builds. Mt 16:18.
The gates of cities were of wood cased with iron to strengthen them and prevent them being burnt with fire. cf. Jg 9:52. The prison at Jerusalem had an outer gate of iron, the only iron one we read of. Ac 12:10.
Doubtless the gates of Solomon's temple were adorned to agree with the rest of the work. In the N.T. we read of THE BEAUTIFUL GATE of the temple, Ac 3:10; and Josephus relates that Herod made an outer gate of Corinthian brass, costing more than those adorned with gold and silver. The gates of the New Jerusalem are described as pearls: "every several gate was of one pearl," Re 21:12-25: the entrances must be in keeping with the rest of the city. The pearls represent the glories of Christ as seen in the church: cf. Mt 13:46.
The gate is used symbolically as the entrance both to life and to destruction: the former is narrow and the way straitened, and alas, there are but few that find it; whereas for the latter the gate is wide and the way is broad, and many there are that enter through it. Mt 7:13-14.
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The killer will flee to one of these cities, stand [at] the entrance of the gate of the city, and {state his case to the elders of that city}; and they will take him into the city and give him a place, and he will dwell among them.
Abimelech came up to the tower and fought against it, and he came near the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire.
And Boaz had gone up [to] the [city] gate and sat there. And look, the redeemer of whom Boaz had spoken [was] passing by. And he said, "Come over here to sit, {friend}." And he came over and sat. And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit here." And they sat. read more. And he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who returned from the countryside [of] Moab, is selling the tract of land which [was] for our brother Elimelech. And I thought {I would tell you} and say, '{Buy it in the presence of} those sitting and before the elders of my people,' if you want to redeem [it], redeem [it]. But if you do not want to redeem, tell me so that I may know, for there is no one except you to redeem [it], and I [am] after you." And he said, "I want to redeem [it]." And Boaz said, "On the day of your acquiring the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the dead [man], [in order] to raise up [for] the name of the dead his inheritance." And the redeemer said, "I am not able to redeem for myself, lest I ruin my inheritance. You redeem for yourself my kinsman-redemption, for I am not able to redeem [it]." (Now this {was the custom in former times} in Israel concerning the kinsman-redemption and transfer of property: to confirm the matter, a man removed his sandal and gave [it] to his fellow countryman. This [was] the manner of attesting in Israel.) So the redeemer said to Boaz, "Acquire [it] for yourself," and he removed his sandal. And Boaz said to the elders and all of the people, "You [are] witnesses today that I have acquired all that [was] for Elimelech and that [was] for Kilion and Mahlon from the hand of Naomi. And also Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I have acquired as a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his relatives and from the gate of his [birth] place. You [are] witnesses today." And all of the people who [were] at the gate and the elders said, "[We are] witnesses. May Yahweh make the woman coming into your house as Rachel and as Leah, who {together} built the house of Israel. May you have strength in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem. And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah from the offspring that Yahweh will give to you from this young woman."
So the king got up and he sat in the gate, and they told all the army, "Look, the king [is] sitting in the gate." Then all the army came before the king; [whereas] all of Israel had fled, each to his tent.
Those sitting at [the] gate talk about me [as] also [the] songs of [the] drunkards.
those who mislead a person into sin with a word and set a trap for the {arbitrator} in the gate and guide away [the] righteous by emptiness.
Elders are no longer at the gate, young men no longer play stringed instruments.
They hate the one who reproves in the gate and they abhor the one who speaks honestly.
For I know your transgressions [are] many and your sins [are] numerous, [you] foes of [the] righteous, those who take a bribe, and {those who} push aside [the] poor [ones] in the gate!
These [are] the things that you must do: speak truth, each [of you], with his neighbor; practice trustworthy judgment and peace in your gates.
"Enter through the narrow gate, because broad [is] the gate and spacious [is] the road that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it, because narrow [is] the gate and constricted [is] the road that leads to life, and there are few who find it!
And [when he] found one very valuable pearl, he went [and] sold everything that he possessed and purchased it.
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it!
And they recognized him, that this one was the one who used to sit [asking] for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.
And [after they] had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened for them by itself, and they went out [and] went forward [along] one narrow street, and at once the angel departed from him.
And the priest of the [temple] of Zeus that was just outside the city brought bulls and garlands to the gates [and] was wanting to offer sacrifice, along with the crowds.
It has a great and high wall that has twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on [the gates] which are of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel-- on the east, three gates, and on the north, three gates, and on the south, three gates, and on the west, three gates. read more. And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them [are] twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke with me was holding a golden measuring rod in order that he could measure the city and its gates and its wall. And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is the same as [its] width. And he measured the city with the measuring rod at twelve thousand stadia; the length and the width and the height of it are equal. And he measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits {according to human measure}, which is the angel's. And the material of its wall [is] jasper, and the city [is] pure gold, similar in appearance to pure glass. The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every kind of precious stone: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates [are] twelve pearls, each one of the gates was from a single pearl. And the street of the city [is] pure gold, like transparent glass. And I did not see a temple in it, for the Lord God All-Powerful is its temple, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon, that they shine on it, for the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp [is] the Lamb. And the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. And its gates will never be shut by day (for there will be no night there),
Smith
Gate.
The gate and gateways of eastern cities anciently held and still hold an important part, not only in the defence but in the public economy of the place. They are thus sometimes taken as representing the city itself.
Ge 22:17; 24:60; De 12:12; Jg 5:8; Ru 4:10; Ps 87:2; 122:2
Among the special purposes for which they were used may be mentioned.
1. As places of public resort.
Ge 19:1; 23:10; 34:20,24; 1Sa 4:18
etc.
2. Places for public deliberation, administration of Justice, or of audience for kings and rulers or ambassadors.
De 16:18; 21:19; 25:7; Jos 20:4; Jg 9:35
etc.
3. Public markets.
In heathen towns the open spaces near the gates appear to have been sometimes used as places for sacrifice.
comp 2Kin 23:8 Regarded therefore as positions of great importance, the gates of cities were carefully guarded, and closed at nightfall.
They contained chambers over the gateway.
The doors themselves of the larger gates mentioned in Scripture were two leaved, plated with metal, closed with locks and fastened with metal bars.
De 3:6; Ps 107:16; Isa 46:1-2
Gates not defended by iron were of course liable to be set on fire by an enemy.
The gateways of royal palaces and even of private houses were often richly ornamented. Sentences from the law were inscribed on and above the gates.
The gates of Solomon's temple were very massive and costly, being overlaid with gold and carving.
Those of the holy place were of olive wood, two-leaved and overlaid with gold; those of the temple of fir.
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And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening. And Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. Then Lot saw [them] and stood up to meet them. And he bowed down [with his] face to the ground.
that I will certainly bless you and greatly multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the shore of the sea. And your offspring will take possession of the gate of his enemies.
Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city, [and] said,
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "You [are] our sister; may you become countless thousands; and may your offspring take possession of the gate of his enemies."
Then Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the men of their city, saying,
And all those who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and Shechem. Every male was circumcised, all those who went out of the gate of his city.
All of these [were] fortified towns with high walls, gates, and bars, {apart from} very many [of] the villages of the open country. And [so] we destroyed them just as we had done to Sihon the king of Heshbon; [we destroyed] utterly each town of males, the women, and the little children.
And you shall rejoice {before} Yahweh your God, you and your sons and your daughters and your slaves and your slave women and the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, because there is not for him a plot of ground and an inheritance with you.
"You shall appoint judges and officials for you in all your {towns} that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you throughout your tribes, and you shall render [for] the people {righteous judgments}.
then his father and his mother shall take hold of him, and they shall bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his {town},
But if the man [does] not want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister-in-law shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and she shall say, 'My brother-in-law refused {to perpetuate his brother's name} in Israel, [for] he is not willing {to marry me}.'
And when [it was time] to shut the gate {for the night}, the men left, and I do not know where they went. Chase after them quickly, for you may catch up [to] them."
So the men chased after them on {the way to the Jordan} at the fords; and they shut the gate behind the pursuers that had gone out after them.
The killer will flee to one of these cities, stand [at] the entrance of the gate of the city, and {state his case to the elders of that city}; and they will take him into the city and give him a place, and he will dwell among them.
God chose new [leaders], then war [was at the] gates; a small shield or a spear was not seen among forty thousand in Israel.
Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood [at] the entrance of the city gate, and Abimelech and the army that [was] with him got up from the ambush.
And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him; many fell slain up to the entrance of the gate.
Then Abimelech and the divisions that [were] with him dashed out and stood [at] the entrance of the city gate, and the two divisions dashed out against all who [were] in the field, and they killed them.
Abimelech came up to the tower and fought against it, and he came near the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire.
And also Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, I have acquired as a wife, to raise up the name of the dead over his inheritance, so that the name of the dead may not be cut off from his relatives and from the gate of his [birth] place. You [are] witnesses today."
Now David [was] sitting between the two gates, and the sentinel went up to the roof of the gate by the wall and he lifted up his eyes and watched, and look, a man [was] running by himself.
He made doors of olive wood for the doorway of the inner sanctuary, [as well as for] the doorpost of the fifth doorframe. [On] the two doors of olive wood he made carvings of cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers, and he overlaid them with gold {by beating} out the gold on the cherubim and the palm tree images.
and two doors of cypress wood; one door [with] two folding panels and the second door [with] two folding panels.
and two doors of cypress wood; one door [with] two folding panels and the second door [with] two folding panels. He carved cherubim and palm tree images and budding flowers and overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work.
Elisha said, "Hear the word of Yahweh: 'Thus says Yahweh, "At this time tomorrow a seah of wheat bread flour [will sell] for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.'"
Then he brought all of the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests from Geba up to Beersheba burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city, which were on the left of each gate of the city.
Bel bows down; Nebo [is] stooping. Their idols are {on} animals and {on} cattle; your {cargo} is carried [as] a burden {on} weary [animals]. They stoop; they bow down together. They are not able to save [the] burden, but {they themselves go} in captivity.
Will you control yourself because of these, Yahweh? Will you be silent? And will you oppress us exceedingly?
And the two doors [were] for the temple and for the sanctuary. And two leaves of a door [were] for [each of] the doors, two hinged leaves of a door: two [were] for the first door, and two leaves of a door [were] for the other door.
And the priest of the [temple] of Zeus that was just outside the city brought bulls and garlands to the gates [and] was wanting to offer sacrifice, along with the crowds.
And the twelve gates [are] twelve pearls, each one of the gates was from a single pearl. And the street of the city [is] pure gold, like transparent glass.
Watsons
GATE is often used in Scripture to denote a place of public assembly, where justice was administered, De 17:5,8; 21:19; 22:15; 25:6-7, &c. One instance of these judgments appears in that given at the gate of Bethlehem, between Boaz and a relation of Naomi, on the subject of Ruth, Ru 4:2; another in Abraham's purchase of a field to bury Sarah, Ge 23:10,18. The gate of judgment is a term still common to the Arabians to express a court of justice, and even introduced by the Saracens into Spain. "I had several times," says Jacob, "visited the Alhambra, the ancient palace and fortress of the Moorish kings: it is situated on the top of a hill, overlooking the city, and is surrounded by a wall of great height and thickness. The entrance is through an archway, over which is carved a key, the symbol of the Mohammedan monarchs. This gate, called the gate of judgment, according to eastern forms, was the place where the kings administered justice." In Morocco, the gate is still the place where judgment is held. "All complaints," says Host, "are brought, in the first instance, to the cadi, or governor, who, for that purpose, passes certain hours of the day in the gate of the city, partly for the sake of the fresh air, and partly to see all those who go out; and, lastly, to observe a custom which has long prevailed, of holding judgment there. The gate is contrived accordingly, being built like a square chamber, with two doors, which are not directly opposite to each other, but on two adjoining sides, with seats on the other sides. In this manner David sat between two gates," 2Sa 18:24. Gate sometimes signifies power, dominion, almost in the same sense as the Turkish emperor's palace is called the Porte. God promises Abraham that his posterity shall possess the gates of their enemies, their towns, their fortresses, Ge 22:17. Jesus Christ says to Peter, "Thou art Peter; and on this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," Mt 16:18. This may mean either the powers of hell, or invisible spirits; or simply death,
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that I will certainly bless you and greatly multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the shore of the sea. And your offspring will take possession of the gate of his enemies.
Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city, [and] said,
to Abraham as a property in the presence of the Hittites, with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city.
then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates; that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them with stones {to death}.
"{If a matter is too difficult for you}, [for example disputes] between blood and blood, between legal claim and legal claim and between assault and assault [and between] matters of discernment in your {towns}, then you shall get up and you shall go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose;
then his father and his mother shall take hold of him, and they shall bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his {town},
then [in defense] the father of the young woman shall take, along with her mother, and [together] they must bring out the [evidence of] the virginity of the young woman [to display it] to the elders of the city {at the city gate}.
And then the firstborn that she bears {shall represent his dead brother}, so that his name is not blotted out from Israel. But if the man [does] not want to take his sister-in-law, then his sister-in-law shall go up to the gate, to the elders, and she shall say, 'My brother-in-law refused {to perpetuate his brother's name} in Israel, [for] he is not willing {to marry me}.'
And he took ten men from the elders of the city and said, "Sit here." And they sat.
Now David [was] sitting between the two gates, and the sentinel went up to the roof of the gate by the wall and he lifted up his eyes and watched, and look, a man [was] running by himself.
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it!