Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(gate-keepers). Keepers of city, temple, palace, and private gates and doors. The temple had 4000 of them, in classified service (2 Sam. 18:26; 2 Kings 7:10; 1 Chron. 23:5; 26:1-19; 2 Chron. 31:14).
Concise Bible Dictionary:
In scripture this word is used in the sense of doorkeeper. The Levites kept the doors of the temple: it was an honorable office (2 Sam. 18:26; 2 Kings 7:10-11; 1 Chron. 9:17-26; Mark 13:34).
In John 10:3 the Porter is the Spirit of Jehovah working in Israel, who recognized the Lord Jesus as entering in by the door into the sheepfold that as the Good Shepherd He might have access to the sheep.
“283. Watch Man Porter” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
2 Samuel 18:26. The watchman saw another man running: and the watchman called unto the porter.
1. Even strong walls and double gates would not of themselves secure a city from the enemy. Men were therefore employed to watch day and night on the top of the walls, and especially by the gates. It was thus that the messengers from the army were seen long before they reached the place where David anxiously sat. In like manner the watchman of Jezreel saw in the distance the company of Jehu driving furiously (2 Kings 9:17-20). So Isaiah in one of his sublime visions saw a watchman standing by his tower day and night (Isaiah 21:5-12). A figurative use of the watchman and his work is beautifully made in Isaiah 62:6; Ezekiel 33:2,6-7; Habakkuk 2:1.
2. It was the business of the porter to open and shut the gates at the proper time. In this case the porter, being in a convenient position below, could receive the intelligence from the watchman above and communicate the same to David. In 2 Kings 7:10 this officer is called “the porter of the city.” Porters are spoken of in connection with the rebuilding of the walls by Nehemiah (Neh. 7:1). In Solomon’s Temple there were four thousand of them (1 Chron. 23:5) who were divided into courses (2 Chron. 8:14) and had their posts assigned by lot (1 Chron. 26:13).
“818. Female Door Keepers” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
John 18:17. The damsel that kept the door.
Women were often employed by the ancients as porters. Classical writers make frequent allusion to the custom. It is mentioned also in the account of Peter’s deliverance from prison, wherein it is stated that the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, had a female porter. See Acts 12:13.
Related Books and Articles: