

At every page turn, the Bible introduces us to a culture very different from our own. We read about unfamiliar objects, people groups, customs, and social practices. When we see these things, we have two choices – read on or pause to investigate the context.
If you started a new Bible reading plan in 2025, you are noticing unique touchpoints of an ancient culture daily – marriage customs, burial practices, social conventions, and hospitality traditions. Sometimes we must read on. Our goal is not to become historians and cultural critics. However, I want to encourage you to stop and ponder the context.
A reminder about the value of background study came this week as I read mention after mention of city gates in my reading plan. City gates in the Bible have always fascinated me. My fascination grew exponentially as I worked at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Tel Gezer Water System Excavation. For two seasons, I led the excavation of a small portion of the Canaanite gate, and the Tel Gezer gate became the subject of my M.A. thesis. I developed a fresh understanding of ancient gates through my excavation work and research.
To understand the significance of gates in the Bible, I first needed to address my modern, Western notions about cities. My understanding of cities and their structure drew more from ancient Athens and Rome than from ancient Hebron and Bethlehem. In our culture, the seat of power, wealth and culture often lies in the middle of our cities similar to the agoras and forums of ancient Greece and Rome. This proclivity toward a city-center focus even shows up in our vernacular when we refer to these areas of power and culture as “the heart of the city.” Throughout much of my life, commerce, justice, decision-making and religious practice took place in these central “downtown” areas. One could argue that a shift away from this is taking place in America, but our language and mental concepts remain rooted in the city-center idea.
Cities in the Old Testament exhibit a different structure than Western cities. Commerce, justice, and decision-making took place at the very edge of the city, at the gate. Abraham negotiated with the elders of Hebron at the gate while purchasing a burial place for Sarah (Genesis 23). Boaz met with the elders and agreed to serve as the kinsman redeemer for Ruth at the gate in Bethlehem (Ruth 4). The story even introduces the contractual custom of removing sandals. The Torah sets the outside area near the city gate as the place of punishment (Leviticus 24:14). City gates in the ancient world carried the type of gravitas we assign to our city halls and courthouses. While archaeology reveals that some religious practices took place at city gates, temples and royal palaces were often built in a central location within the city walls.
The Canaanites lived in constant fear of marauding armies, so keeping business with outsiders near the edge of the city makes perfect sense at Hebron. The physical boundary of the gate also formed a communal boundary delineating insiders and outsiders, providing protection. Even after Israel entered the land, gates served as the place of meeting, commerce, and decision-making. For the Hebrew people, gates and walls gained theological importance. For them, these physical boundaries symbolized the communal boundary between the ritually pure insiders and ritually unclean outsiders who worshipped idols.
In addition to projecting power, controlling access to a city, and creating communal boundaries, gates took on symbolic meaning. The biblical writers frequently use the words “gate” and “gates” to denote the entire city. In Genesis 22:17, God promised Abraham: “Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies.” In other words, the towns of Canaan would belong to Abraham’s descendants. Likewise, in Deuteronomy 15:4, the phrase “within your gates” is used as a term for a city.
Jesus used the term gates metaphorically in the Gospel accounts. He speaks of the wide gate that leads to destruction and the narrow gate that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). In John 10, Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd and “the gate.” Following Peter’s confession, Jesus proclaimed that “the gates of Hades” would not be able to overpower His church (Matthew 16:18).
Just a little research and a shift in focus on how cities were structured helped me see gates in a new way. This work also prepared me to delve into the use of gates as metaphors.
I am not suggesting that you cannot read and understand the Bible without extensive study of ancient culture. The Holy Spirit empowers and enlightens our reading of the text and guides us to Truth. Still, a little background study goes a long way in helping us get the most out of our Bible readings. Keeping a good, illustrated Bible dictionary handy during your reading time is a strategic step toward incorporating contextual study into your reading routine. In the end, contextual study is a tool. It encourages us not to import our culture into the text and helps us better interpret and apply God’s unchanging Word.