The Doorkeep
My God than Dwell in the Tents of Wickedness (Ps 84:11) [in Hebrew]
Freund, Joseph. “I Would Rather Be a Doorkeeper in the House of My God than Dwell in the Tents of Wickedness (Ps 84:11) [in Hebrew].” Beth Mikra 1988, Vol. 33 (2), pp: 147–155.
This psalm does not deal with individuals or individualism. The struggle it describes is assigned to the Hasidim. the status of being a doorkeeper is a choice between good and evil. (Hebrew)
The Doorkeeper
In each school there will be only one entrance door. If there is more than one door, the others, which the director will select, will be closed and always kept locked.
A student from one of the classrooms, ordinarily the one at the entrance, will be appointed to open and shut this entrance door each time anyone enters the school. This student will be called the doorkeeper.
The doorkeeper will be placed near the door to open it promptly. The doorkeeper will not leave the door open and will always bolt it.
The doorkeeper will allow no one to enter except teachers, students, and the priest of the parish in which the school is situated.
When someone knocks at the door of the school, the doorkeeper will at once open it quietly and with the least possible delay answer the person who is knocking. After having again bolted the door, the doorkeeper will notify the teacher who has been designated as the one to speak with visitors.
While the teacher is speaking with someone, the doorkeeper will leave the door sufficiently open for it to be possible to see from within the classroom both the teacher and the person with whom the teacher is speaking.
The doorkeeper will guard the door from the time when it is first opened until the time when the students begin to leave the school. For this reason this student must always be the first to arrive at school. The doorkeeper will always keep silent and will never speak to any student who is entering the school or going out of it.
The doorkeeper will be exact in reading in turn like the others, and as far as possible, he will pay attention to and follow the lesson during all the time when not busy at the door. Doorkeepers must be frequently changed, and care should be taken that they do not lose time for reading. This can be done by making the student read at the end of school or by having another act as doorkeeper during the lesson.
This officer will also have charge of a piece of wood given to the students when they go outside, giving it to the one going out and taking care that no student goes out without it. In this way and as far as possible, no two will go out together for this reason. The doorkeeper will put the item away every day after school, both morning and afternoon, and will let no student go out without it.
The doorkeeper will be chosen from among the most diligent and the most regular in attendance at school. The student should be sensible, reserved, well behaved, silent, and capable of edifying the people who come and knock at the door.
My God than Dwell in the Tents of Wickedness (Ps 84:11) [in Hebrew]
Freund, Joseph. “I Would Rather Be a Doorkeeper in the House of My God than Dwell in the Tents of Wickedness (Ps 84:11) [in Hebrew].” Beth Mikra 1988, Vol. 33 (2), pp: 147–155.
This psalm does not deal with individuals or individualism. The struggle it describes is assigned to the Hasidim. the status of being a doorkeeper is a choice between good and evil. (Hebrew)
Doorkeepers
doorkeepers, people who guard access to important or restricted places. Doorkeepers were appointed in the Temple as ‘keepers of the threshold’ to collect money from the people (2 Kings 22:4). Levites were appointed as gatekeepers for the Ark (1 Chron. 15:23-24). Eunuchs were doorkeepers at the palace of the Persian king (Esther 2:21) and a woman was doorkeeper at the house of King Ishbosheth (2 Sam. 4:6; cf. John 18:16-17; Acts 12:13).
GATEKEEPER [Heb šôʿēr] (2 K. 7:10f.; 1 Ch. 9:17–26; 15:18; etc.); AV PORTER, DOORKEEPER (1 Ch. 15:23f); NEB also DOOR-KEEPER, “watch (at the city gate)”; [Gk thyrōrós] (Jn. 10:3); AV PORTER; NEB DOORKEEPER; DOORKEEPER [Heb sāp̱ap̱] (Ps. 84:10 [MT 11]); NEB “linger by the threshold”; [Aram tārāʿ] (Ezr. 7:24); AV PORTER; [Gk thyrōrós] (Mk. 13:34); AV PORTER; GUARD THE THRESHOLD [Heb šōmēr hassap̱] (2 K. 12:9 [MT 10]; Est. 2:21; 6:2); AV also KEPT THE DOOR; NEB “on duty at the entrance” (2 K. 12:9); KEEPER (S) OF THE THRESHOLD [šōmēr hassap̱] (e.g., 2 K. 22:4; Jer. 35:4); AV also KEEPER OF THE DOOR; NEB also “on duty at the entrance” (2 K. 22:4; Jer. 52:24), “on guard at the threshold gates” (2 Ch. 23:4), “on duty at the threshold” (2 Ch. 34:9).
In the ancient Near East the entrances to both city and temple resembled the doorways of houses, the gates themselves being like doors; thus, one who guarded the entrance could be called either “doorkeeper” or “gatekeeper.”
I. City Gatekeepers
Their position was of some importance, requiring loyal and trustworthy men to ensure the safety of the entire city. Obviously their main responsibility was to admit or to refuse entrance (2 K. 7:10f.). On one occasion they had the additional duty of guarding the king’s palace, but apparently this protective measure was due to special circumstances and was not part of their normal functions (2 K. 11:4–9).
II. Temple Gatekeepers
Much more information is given about the temple gatekeepers, who had more duties than just guarding the temple entrances. In preexilic works it is mentioned (briefly and infrequently) that the “priests who guarded the threshold” gathered the worshipers’ monetary offerings (2 K. 12:9; 22:4), and that a “keeper of the threshold” had a room in the temple complex (Jer. 35:4). During Josiah’s reform the “keepers of the threshold” along with the high priest and the priests of the second order were commanded to rid the temple of the idols and pagan objects that had been desecrating it (2 K. 23:4). Thus the gatekeepers were apparently a third class of priests, who were somehow responsible for the care of the temple and perhaps were occasionally given a room in the complex for their own use.
It is in the postexilic writings of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles that the gatekeepers receive much more attention. They seem to have been organized into a sacred guild, as were the temple singers and servants (1 Ch. 9:10–33; Ezr. 2:36–43; Neh. 7:39–46). David and Samuel were credited with establishing the gatekeepers in their office (1 Ch. 9:22; cf. 15:16–18; 23:2–5), and Solomon likewise appointed sacred officers, including gatekeepers, during his reign (2 Ch. 8:14). Thus, although the office of gatekeeper could be traced back to Moses’ time (1 Ch. 9:20), and could be hereditary (1 Ch. 9:19, 23), the king had the authority to appoint and establish his own staff. Apparently the only limitation of this royal authority was that temple personnel had to be Levites; cf. 1 Ch. 9:26; 15:23; 23:5; 2 Ch. 23:4; 34:13, for the identification of gatekeepers as Levites. (Although the RSV and NEB in Ezra 2:70 distinguish gatekeepers from Levites, this reading is based only on 1 Esd. 5:46; the AV follows the MT and makes no such distinction. Other texts [e.g., 2 Ch. 8:14; Ezr. 2:42; Neh. 7:1; etc.], which may be interpreted as maintaining this distinction, may also be construed as merely differentiating the subgroup of gatekeepers within the larger group of Levites. This explanation seems best, not only because of the unmistakable identification of gatekeepers as Levites in the texts mentioned above, but also because such an explanation accounts for the gatekeepers receiving portions like the priests and Levites [Neh. 12:47; 13:5].)
Aside from watching the temple entrances (1 Ch. 9:23–27; 2 Ch. 23:19), the gatekeepers cared for the ark (1 Ch. 15:23f), oversaw and distributed the freewill offerings (2 Ch. 31:14), helped perform a service of purification (Neh. 12:45), and guarded the storehouses located at the gates (v 25). They were given their gates by lot (1 Ch. 26:13–16). Their number varied from 4000 in David’s time (1 Ch. 23:5) to 172 in Nehemiah’s day (Neh. 11:19)—probably due to the great differences in the number of available Levites and in temple size.
III. Other Gatekeepers
Est. 2:21; 6:2 mention “those who guarded the threshold” at the court of King Ahasuerus in Susa; these were “eunuchs” (AV “chamberlains”), probably serving as the king’s bodyguards.
Only four other OT passages remain to be discussed, each with its own special problem. In Ps. 84:10 the RSV and AV render the hapax legomenon histōp̱ēp̱ as “doorkeeper,” but the NEB translates “linger by the threshold,” apparently on the basis of the LXX (pararriptéisthai). While this latter translation seems to fit the context, which could be interpreted as requiring a humble position to contrast with the dwelling in the tents of wickedness, the heading of the psalm should also be noticed, for it attributes the psalm to the “sons of Korah,” who were gatekeepers (1 Ch. 9:19). Thus a reference to their office would be natural in this psalm, and the needed contrast in v 10 could be seen in the difference between one serving in Another’s house and one dwelling in tents.
The NEB’s use of the LXX in Job 38:17 seems unwarranted, for the context and parallelism favor the MT, especially since elsewhere the gates of the netherworld are mentioned but not its gatekeepers (Isa. 38:10; Ps. 9:13 [MT 14]; 107:18).
In 2 S. 4:6, however, the LXX does read more smoothly, avoiding the awkward Hebrew phrasing and repetition. If it is accepted it would be the only OT reference to a woman doorkeeper in a private household.
1 Samuel 3:15 has been thought by some (e.g., L. Batten Ezra-Nehemiah [ICC, 1913], p. 85) to portray Samuel as a gatekeeper at the Shiloh sanctuary. Although it is clear that Samuel indeed served in some sense as a doorkeeper, he was probably too young (cf. v 1) to serve in the full capacity of gatekeeper; and, as stated above, that office was not yet fully developed.
The NT has no references to either temple or city gatekeepers but does have several references to gatekeepers of private houses. Thus Jesus spoke of a “doorkeeper” who was to watch over the household while the master was away (Mk. 13:34). Another parable features the “gatekeeper” of a sheepfold (Jn. 10:3). Finally, it was a “maid who kept the door” at the house of the high priest who recognized Peter during Jesus’ trial (Jn. 18:16f.).
Bibliography.—A. Cody, History of OT Priesthood (1969); ILC; R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel (Eng. tr. 1961).
DOORKEEPERS TO HOLY PLACES
“I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Psalm 84:10
There is joy in being a doorkeeper because:
1. Doorkeepers Are Able to Hear the Word of God
2. Doorkeepers Are Able to Experience the Presence of God
3. Doorkeepers Are Able to Feel the Power of God
4. Doorkeepers Are Saved by the Grace of God