Various Purposes for Gates

Variety of uses for gates. These city gates had many uses. "The openings of the gates" are described by Proverbs as "the chief place of concourse" (Proverbs 1:21). The city gate was used as a public gathering place for the giving of an address or proclamation. Concerning King Hezekiah it was said: "And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them" (II Chronicles 32:6). David speaks of his persecutors gossiping about him at the city gates (Psalm 69:12). Mordecai sat in the king's gate in order to attract attention from the sovereign (Esther 2:21). The prophets often preached their sermons in the gates of the city. Thus the LORD told Jeremiah, "Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 17:19). [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]