Greek word · G2377

θυρωρός

thyrōros

gatekeeper

A doorkeeper or porter who guards the entrance to a house, courtyard, palace or enclosure and controls who comes in. The job could be done by a man or a woman, often a slave or hired servant.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

θυρωρός, -οῦ, ὁ, ἡ

(θύρα, + οὖρος, a guardian) [in LXX: 2 Kings 7:11 (שׁוֹעֵר), Ezekiel 44:11 (פְּקֻדָּה), 2 Kings 4:6 4:1 II Esther 7:1-28 * ;]

a door-keeper, porter: ὁ, Mark 13:34, John 10:3; ἡ, John 18:16-17†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of John 10:3

Range of meaning

A doorkeeper or porter who guards the entrance to a house, courtyard, palace or enclosure and controls who comes in. The job could be done by a man or a woman, often a slave or hired servant.

Against the English

KJV "porter" was accurate in 1611, when it meant someone who keeps a gate (from Latin porta, "gate"). Modern versions use "gatekeeper" (BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV) or "doorkeeper" (YLT, NASB), which say the same thing more clearly.

How it drifted

English "porter" now mostly means a person who carries luggage. The older sense of "doorkeeper" survives only in British use (a hotel or college porter).

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament: 2 Sam 4:6 and 2 Kgs 7:11. John uses the same word for the servant girl who keeps the door of the high priest's courtyard and lets Peter in (John 18:16–17). Also Mark 13:34, where the master tells the doorkeeper to stay awake. In Greek papyri it is an ordinary job title.

From the study of John 18:17

Range of meaning

Doorkeeper or gatekeeper of a house, courtyard or sheepfold; the person who controls entry. The word can be masculine or feminine; here the article makes it feminine.

Against the English

"Doorkeeper," "watching the door," "kept the door" are all accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

John 10:3, the thurōros who opens to the true shepherd; Mark 13:34. Women as doorkeepers are attested: the Septuagint of 2 Samuel 4:6 has a woman keeping Ishbosheth's door, and Josephus retells the same (Antiquities 7.48).

From the study of John 18:16

Range of meaning

"Door-keeper, porter" (from thyra, door, and ōra/ouros, watch). The word could be masculine or feminine. In wealthy households the job usually went to a slave. In the Temple and in sheepfolds it was a recognized role.

Against the English

BSB, NASB and "doorkeeper" generally leave out that the keeper is a woman, which the Greek article makes plain. KJV ("her that kept the door"), WEB ("her who kept the door") and YLT ("the female keeping the door") keep it. NIV and others carry over "servant girl" from v.17.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint of 2 Samuel 4:6 adds a female doorkeeper at Ishbosheth's house who dozes while cleaning wheat, and Josephus (Antiquities 7.48) has the same detail. In Acts 12:13 a slave girl, Rhoda, answers the gate at Mary's house. In Mark 13:34 the master orders the thyrōros to keep watch. Elsewhere in John the word appears only at 10:3: "to him the doorkeeper opens" the sheepfold.

Where it appears

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 13:34 θυρωρῷ doorkeeper

    It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch.

    Here: The slave who kept the door or gate, which in practice meant the night watch. When the master knocked, whatever the hour, this was the person who had to be awake to open it.

John · 3

  1. John 10:3 θυρωρὸς doorkeeper

    The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

    Here: The person who guards the one entrance to the walled sheepfold and decides who may come in. He recognises the real shepherd and lets him in.

  2. John 18:16 θυρωρῷ doorkeeper

    But Peter stood outside at the door. Then the disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in.

    Here: A household slave whose job was to watch the gate and decide who came in. Here she is a young female slave (v.17).

  3. John 18:17 θυρωρός· doorkeeper:

    At this, the servant girl watching the door said to Peter, “Aren’t you also one of this man’s disciples?” “I am not,” he answered.

    Here: The one who keeps the gate of the courtyard and decides who comes in. She had just let Peter in at the other disciple's word (v. 16), so she has a reason to ask who he is.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.