porter Summary and Overview
Bible Dictionaries at a Glance
porter in Easton's Bible Dictionary
a gate-keeper (2 Sam. 18:26; 2 Kings 7:10; 1 Chr. 9:21; 2 Chr. 8:14). Of the Levites, 4,000 were appointed as porters by David (1 Chr. 23:5), who were arranged according to their families (26:1-19) to take charge of the doors and gates of the temple. They were sometimes employed as musicians (1 Chr. 15:18).
porter in Smith's Bible Dictionary
This word when used in the Authorized Version does not bear its modern signification of a carrier of burdens, but denotes in every case a gate-keeper, from the Latin portarius, the man who attended to the porta or gate.
porter in Fausset's Bible Dictionary
shoeer; thuroros. A "gatekeeper" (1 Chronicles 9:21), John 10:3 symbolically "the Holy Spirit who opens gospel doors" (Acts 14:27; 1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12; Colossians 4:3) and shuts them (Acts 16:6-7); "by one Spirit we have access through Christ unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18). He opens the door of men's hearts (Revelation 3:20, compare Acts 16:14).