LlTERATI-RE.-
xi,eiirr,( ; Grimm-Thayer, Lex. ST,
1,11,1 |i(.w,,i ..vrrall li,>-li, tha ;rnal lite to as many as he ha cf. 10**). See also Power.
, Bih.-Thenl. Lex. g.vv. i£«[/(r/«, xupm
,{.w,.
xifiau xiipnii>i; H. J. Holtzmann, LehrbxKh der yr Theol. i. 319 f., ii. 409 £E.; Wendt, The Teaching of Jesus, ii. 276: Bevschlag, AT Theology, i. 59-191, 241 ; Comtn. of Mever and
Aiford. Hugh H. Currie.
DOOR (ffiipa, cf. $vpap6s, 'doorkeeper,' 'porter'). — The word 'door' is frequently found in the Gospels, sometimes in the literal, often in the figurative sense.
1. We need, first, to get clearly in mind the meaning of the term in Oriental usage. By ' door ' is usually meant the outside or entrance 'doorway,' but often the 'door' in distinction from the 'doorway,' the frame of wood, stone, or metal that closes the doorway. The outside of the Oriental house has little ornament or archi- tectural attractiveness of any kind. The 'door,' however, and the projecting 'window' above it, are exceptions to this rule. The doors, windows, and doorways are often highly ornamented (Is 541-, Rev 21^'), enriched with arabesques, and, if to-day it be the house of a Moslem, the door will have sentences from the Koran inscribed upon it (cf. Dt 6'). The ' doors ' are usually of hard wood, studded with nails, or sometimes covered with sheet-iron. They are often very heavy. They invariably open inwards, and are furnished on the inside with strong bars and bolts. They have usually wooden locks, which are worked by wooden keys of such size that they could make formidable clubs (Is 22-, cf. Land ami Book, i. 493). There is an opening in the door for the insertion of the hand and the introduction of the key from the outside, the lock being reached only from the in- side. On entering the 'door' there is usually a vestibule, where, in daytime, the ' doorkeeper is found, and where the master often receives the casual visitor (cf. Gn lO'^ 23'" 3i^ and Job 29').
The ' doors ' leading into the ' rooms ' or ' cham- bers' that open upon the court are not usually supplied with locks or bolts ; a curtain, as a rule, being all that separates one of these 'chambers' from the 'court,' the idea being that all is private and secure wthin the outer gate (cf. Dt 24", Ac 10^ 1213).
'vay'
threshold or sill (sometimes used for 'door'), the two side-posts, and the lintel (Ex 12"'). The doors of ancient Egypt, and probably of contemporary nations, swung upon vertical pintles which pro- jected from the top and bottom of the door into sockets in the lintel and threshold respectively. The commonest form of door had the pintle in the middle of the width, so that, as it opened, a way was aflbrded on each side of it for ingress or egress. Occasionally we find that the 'chamber,' or private room, had its own door and fastenings. In Mt 6*, ' When thou hast shut thy door,' the word used means not only closed, but fastened it — giving the idea of complete privacy. See art. CLOSET. In Mt 2.5'", 'the door was shut,' it is clearly the outside or entrance-door that is meant. When this one outer door was shut, all communication with the outside world was cut off. Then nothin" but persistent knocking at this door, and loud entreaty, would succeed in securing even a hearing. In this case the apjjeal was made to the bridegroom himself, who, to this day, is considered in the East sovereign of the occasion.
2. When Jesus said, ' I am the door ' ( Jn lO*), He clearly meant to exclude every other form or means of mediation. But throutjh Him there is an unhindered entering into and going out of the fold (cf. Nu 27'").
3. When it is said that Joseph, 'a rich man of Arimathwa,' begged the body of Jesus, laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock, and rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb (Mt 27®', Mk 16'), we have a reference to a
DOUBT
DOVE
491
unique kind of door. The great roll-stone is often mentioned in the Talmud, but only in describing interments of the dead (Keini). It was clearly designed to protect the dead bodies and the other contents of the tomb from robbers, petty thieves, and birds and beasts of prey. One large tomb is now shown half a mile north of Jerusalem, which has a huge circular stone, like a great millstone on edge, cut from the solid rock, together with the channel in which it revolves. There are signs that i originally furnished with a secret fastening, less to protect the contents — spices, costly linen, jewellery, etc., against plunder. The ' Tomb of Mariamne,' recently uncovered south of the city, and the so-called 'Tomb of Lazarus' at Beth- any, likewise have doors with similar ' roll-stones ' (cf. art. Tomb). See also artt. COURT, House. Geo. B. Eager. DOUBT.—
Ill Lat. dubitare, from duo ' two ' and bito ' go ' ; Germ. Ziveifeln, Zweifel ; from zwci, *two'; Mid. Enfj. douten^ 'to doubt,' had the meaniiij; of to /far ('I dovibt some foul play' fShakspeare], ' nor slack her threatful hand for danger's doubt' (Spenser)), and this meaning, perhaps, survives in such expressions as ' I doubt he will not come.' But, as commonly used, to doubt means lo be of two vihids, to waver, to hesitate. It suggests the idea of perplexity ; of being at a loss, in a state of suspense. The questioning attitude is implied. The word has, in short, a variety of meanings.