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City Gates, Gates of the City (Protection and Local Government)
Meaning
The term “city gates” or “gates of the city” were used both as a physical reference as well as a metaphorical reference. And that’s primarily because they served many different purposes in the lives of the community. The city gates were physical entrances into the city, they not only controlled the flow of people in and out of the city. But they also provided protection at night and from invading armies. And because the gates structurally tended to be the weakest point in a wall. They were the point of attack for armies who laid siege against the city. Therefore the people in the city often constructed large reinforced and fortified structures to withstand the siege. Often times there were structures such as watch towers built into the gates of a city. These were locations where the defenders could not only keep watch, but counter-attack the enemy as they tried to gain entry.
The gates of the city in a lot of ways controlled life in the city. And because they were the first thing people saw entering the city they were often elaborately built up as a statement of the power and importance of the city. In addition the gates of the city were the seat of the local government. This was because they controlled the entrance and exit of people. Which also made them the perfect location from which the rulers could evaluate who they wanted in and who could get out of the city.
In addition, it was the perfect location to collect taxes from those entering and exiting the city. As a result of these and other factors the gates of the city were also the seat of local power and authority. The elders of the city could always be found at the city gates carrying out the business of the city. And in many cases the judicial courts were set up at the city gates. Therefore, they functioned as the location where justice was served within the city. If a person had a dispute with someone else they went to the gates of the city to locate the elders or enter the courts. There were several Old Testament idioms which represented this fact of life. For example the phrase “to sit at the gate” meant to be a ruler over the people of the city. And the phrase “to possess the gate” meant having control of the city. And because of their importance to the rule of the people, the theme of “city gates” can be found as a major theme in Bible prophecy.
“Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.” (Book of Amos 5:15)
“Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. When the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, Ebed-Melech went out of the king’s house and spoke to the king.” (Book of Jeremiah 38:7-8)
“Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: ‘By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.'” (Book of Genesis 22:15-17)