BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
GREEK · G2377
thurōros — gatekeeper
θυρωρός, -οῦ, ὁ, ἡ (θύρα, + οὖρος, a guardian) [in LXX: 4Ki.7:11 (שׁוֹעֵר), Eze.44:11 (פְּקֻדָּה), 2Ki.4:6 4:1 II Est.7:1-28 * ;] a door-keeper, porter: ὁ, Mrk.13:34, Jhn.10:3; ἡ, Jhn.18:16-17† (AS)
4 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →This word is used in Ps. 84:10 (R.V. marg., “stand at the threshold of,” etc.), but there it signifies properly “sitting at the threshold in the house of God.” The psalmist means that he would rather stand at the door of God’s house and merely look in, than dwell in houses where iniquity prevailed. Persons were appointed to keep the street door leading into the interior of the house (John 18:16, 17; Acts 12:13). Sometimes females held this post.
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.
