שֹׁעֵר
sho.er (H7778)
gatekeeper
AI Word Study
# The Hebrew Word שֹׁעֵר (Gatekeeper) The Hebrew term שֹׁעֵר (sho.er) refers to a gatekeeper—a person responsible for guarding and managing access through gates. With 37 occurrences throughout the Hebrew Bible, this word describes a specific functional role rather than a temporary or casual duty. The consistency of its usage suggests that gatekeeping was an established position within ancient Israelite society, not merely an ad hoc task. The frequency of this word across the biblical text indicates that gateekeeping held practical importance in the organization of cities, temples, and other fortified structures. Gates served as critical control points for security, taxation, and administration, making the gatekeeper's role functionally significant. The repeated appearance of this term suggests that gatekeepers were recognizable figures in the social landscape of ancient Israel, warranting a dedicated vocabulary item rather than being described through circumlocution. Without access to the specific contextual occurrences, the full range of the word's application remains limited to what the lemma suggests: it denotes someone whose primary responsibility was overseeing gate operations. This straightforward meaning—a person assigned to guard a gate—remained stable enough across the 37 biblical uses to retain a single, consistent lexical form.
AI synthesis uses only provided lexicon data -- never training knowledge.
The watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the gatekeeper, and said, “Behold, a man running alone!” The king said, “He also brings news.”
So they came and called to the city gatekeepers; and they told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, not even a man’s voice, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.”
He called the gatekeepers; and they told it to the king’s household within.
The gatekeepers: Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brothers (Shallum was the chief),
who previously served in the king’s gate eastward. They were the gatekeepers for the camp of the children of Levi.
Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper of the door of the Tent of Meeting.
All these who were chosen to be gatekeepers in the thresholds were two hundred twelve. These were listed by genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer ordained in their office of trust.
On the four sides were the gatekeepers, toward the east, west, north, and south.
for the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were in an office of trust, and were over the rooms and over the treasuries in God’s house.
and with them their brothers of the second rank, Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers.
Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.
Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before God’s ark; and Obed-Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.
and Obed-Edom with their brothers, sixty-eight; Obed-Edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be doorkeepers;
four thousand were doorkeepers, and four thousand praised Yahweh with the instruments which I made for giving praise.”
For the divisions of the doorkeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph.
Of these were the divisions of the doorkeepers, even of the chief men, having offices like their brothers, to minister in Yahweh’s house.
These were the divisions of the doorkeepers; of the sons of the Korahites, and of the sons of Merari.
He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate, for David the man of God had so commanded.
This is the thing that you must do. A third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be gatekeepers of the thresholds.
He set the gatekeepers at the gates of Yahweh’s house, that no one who was unclean in anything should enter in.
Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the gatekeeper at the east gate, was over the free will offerings of God, to distribute Yahweh’s offerings and the most holy things.
Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and directed all who did the work in every kind of service. Of the Levites, there were scribes, officials, and gatekeepers.
The singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers were at every gate. They didn’t need to depart from their service, because their brothers the Levites prepared for them.
The children of the gatekeepers: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai, in all one hundred thirty-nine.
So the priests and the Levites, with some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants, lived in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.
Some of the children of Israel, including some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
Of the singers: Eliashib. Of the gatekeepers: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.
Now when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed,
The gatekeepers: the children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children of Hatita, the children of Shobai: one hundred thirty-eight.
So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel, lived in their cities. When the seventh month had come, the children of Israel were in their cities.
The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters—everyone who had knowledge, and understanding—
For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the wave offering of the grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, to the rooms, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, and the priests who minister, with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not forsake the house of our God.
Moreover the gatekeepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were one hundred seventy-two.
Mattaniah, and Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, Akkub, were gatekeepers keeping the watch at the storehouses of the gates.
They performed the duty of their God, and the duty of the purification, and so did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son.
All Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the gatekeepers, as every day required; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron.
had prepared for him a great room, where before they laid the meal offerings, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of the grain, the new wine, and the oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers; and the wave offerings for the priests.