"GATES" IN THE BIBLE

In a previous post, I discussed the function of city walls and gates as a defense against outside attackers, and went into more detail concerning more figurative uses for the word “wall” in the Bible. It turns out that the word “gate” is even more ubiquitous in the Bible (appearing almost 350 times) and is used to make a variety of points, all based on the literal functions of gates in biblical times.

Concerning these functions, the first is the obvious one of providing defense for a city. To accomplish that end, city gates could be quite elaborate at times. In fact, it was the unusual construction of the gates built in Solomon's times that helped archeologists identify a common architect for them (see post on I Kings 8 for a brief discussion).

In addition, there is the obvious fact that gates were a good spot from which to view the comings and goings of others, sort of like people-watching at a mall. It was in this manner that Lot, as he sat on one of the stone benches lining either side of the gates of Sodom, was able to greet the two angels who arrived in town and offer them hospitality at his house. I would imagine that he was desperate for any type of company other than the despicable denizens of the city.

Near a gate was also an ideal place to pick up the latest news and gossip (Psalm 69:12). Thus, it is said of the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 that her works are praised in the city gates (v. 31). An even more far-reaching example is found in Esther 2:19-21 where Mordecai is sitting at the king's gate and happens to overhear two guards plotting against the king. It is that key event that will later prove crucial for saving all of the Jews in the Persian Empire.

Related to this function is the fact that a city gate was an ideal place to function as a sort of bulletin board or public speaking forum like Hyde Park in London. Thus, in Deuteronomy 6:9, God tells the people to (either literally or figuratively) post the Shema command to “love your God with all your heart, etc.” on the people's gates and your doorposts. And Lady Wisdom in Proverbs 1:21 and 8:3,34 is said to call out to the people in the most public places such as at the gates of the city asking the passing people to heed her words. In marked contrast to Wisdom calling at the gates is the fact that fools keep their mouth shut in the gates (Proverbs 24:7). The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery calls the city gates the place for “a philosophical think tank.”

Gates were also convenient locations for those in need to beg for alms, just as in cities today the homeless will hold up signs for help at stop lights of major thoroughfares. One such person was the lame man who used to beg by the Beautiful Gate of the Jerusalem temple (see Acts 3:10). The author of Proverbs warns not to harm the poor at the gates (22:22).

One of the major functions of city gates was as a place to transact important business in the presence of the responsible citizens of the town. Thus, the virtuous woman's husband was said to sit with the elders in the city gates (Proverbs 31:23). These activities also included legal matters (Isaiah 29:21). Perhaps the most well-known biblical example is found in Ruth 4 where Boaz and Naomi's nearest relative work out the details concerning Ruth's fate. An even earlier case, however, is that of the seemingly endless negotiations between Abraham and Ephron carried out at the gates of Hebron when the former wished to acquire a burial plot from the latter. This incident seems minor at the time, but it will later be used to partially justify the legal rights of the Israelites to holding property in Canaan.

Apparently, the powers-to-be who sat in the gates were not always favorable to the poorer parties in the case of a legal dispute (see Amos 5:10-15), and that is why Zechariah 8:16 needs to say, “Render justice in the gates.”

Because of its important function, “gate” was sometimes used as a synonym for the city itself. For example, Isaiah 14:31 says poetically:

    “Wail, O gate;

    Cry, O city.”

This same sort of parallelism occurs in Isaiah 3:36 and 24:12. Thus, when the author of Hebrews (13:12) speaks of the symbolism of Jesus being taken outside the gates of Jerusalem for crucifixion in the same way that the bodies of sacrificial animals were burned outside the camp, he is utilizing the concept of the gates representing the city itself.

The gates of the temple played an important part in the pilgrimage processionals at Jerusalem. Witness Isaiah 26:2, for example. And there is the cry “Lift up your heads, O gates!” in Psalms such as 24:7 in which the gates are poetically addressed as if they were living beings.

The literal function of gates as entrances to cities gave rise to its figurative use in the Bible for entrance into otherworldly places. On the positive side, there is Jacob's cry after his night vision at Bethel of stairs with angels climbing up and down: “This is the gate of heaven.” Moving to the New Testament, Christ as the Good Shepherd is said to lead his sheep safely through the gate, and actually to be the gate itself (John 10:9). In a similar manner, Jesus urges his followers to “enter by the narrow gate,” the only way to gain entrance to eternal salvation. We have inherited that imagery when we talk about St. Peter sitting at the gates of heaven with its keys in hand.

As the converse of the above image is the fact that the land of the dead (Sheol in the OT and Hades in the NT) is also entered through a gate figuratively. This picture is seen in passages such as Job 38:17; Psalm 9:13; 107:18; and Isaiah 38:10. Jonah goes even further in 2:6 when he says poetically that he approached “the land whose bars closed upon me forever.” Getting back to the various functions of city gates, this is an allusion to the bars used to close them, which not only kept out undesirables but also locked those in so that they could not escape. Thus, at least in OT thinking, there was no release from death.

This prepares us for the very important words of Christ recorded in Matthew 16:18 and Luke 13:24: “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” But the more I studied this passage, the more I realized how complicated and controversial its interpretation is. Therefore I will be devoting a separate post to discussing this verse.

The various OT descriptions of city gates and their functions find their final fulfillment in the last two chapters of the Bible in which the New Jerusalem, the Holy Bride, descends to earth. Thus, we have the following:

    Whereas the gates of the cities were always closed and locked at night for security (Joshua 2:5,7), Isaiah gives the prediction that in the future “they shall not be shut by day nor night” (Isaiah 45:1; 60:11). But the Book of Revelation goes even further in stating that the gates of the New Jerusalem “won't be shut by day, and there will be no night.”

    Whereas the ancient city gates were made out of wood and perhaps covered with brass, Isaiah 54:12 predicts that the gates of Jerusalem will be made out of jewels (54:12). Again, the description in the Book of Jerusalem goes even beyond that in saying that each of the gates of the New Jerusalem will be fashioned out of a giant pearl (Revelation 21:21). This is significant for two reasons. In the first place, pearls were valued even highly than gold or silver (see the “Parable of the Pearl of Great Price” post). In the second place (and this is a controversial interpretation), N. Hillyer states that pearls are the only jewels coming from a living organism and they result from an injury done to that organism. Thus, the gates to enter into the New Jerusalem are reminders that our only access to heaven is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

    Isaiah 60:18 states that there will be no more violence in the land (and thus gates can be kept open all the time) and “You shall call your gates Praise.” The New Jerusalem, however, excludes sinners of all types, not just those who practice violence.

    In the vision of the New Temple and surroundings that Ezekiel describes at the end of his book, he states in 48:31-34 that the twelve gates will be named after the twelve tribes of Israel. But in the ultimate fulfillment of that prophecy in Revelation 21:12-21, the foundations of the city will also have the names of the twelve apostles in recognition that the new people of God consists of both believing Jews and Gentiles. But I will have a little more to say regarding Ezekiel's vision in a subsequent post.