Acts 3:2 - Exposition

That was lame for lame, A.V.; door for gate, A.V. Door . If any distinction is intended between the θύρα here and the πύλη of Acts 3:10 (which is not certain, as θύρα is often used for a gate ) , we must understand θύρα of the double doors of the gate described by Josephus. Perhaps the lame man leant against one of the open doors. Which is called Beautiful . It is not certain what gate this was. In the 'Dictionary of the Bible' it is described as "the great eastern gate leading from the court of the women to the upper court," following apparently Josephus, 'De Bell. Jud.,' 5. 5. 3. But it is impossible to reconcile Josephus's two accounts—that in the 'Bell. Jud.,' 5. 5. and that in 'Ant. Jud.,' 15. 11. In the former he says distinctly that there were ten gates—four on the north, four on the south, and two on the east. In the latter he says there were three gates on the north, three on the south, and one on the east. In the former he says that fifteen steps led up from the women's enclosure to the great gate, exactly opposite the gate of the temple itself ( ἄντικρυ τῆς τοῦ ναοῦ πυλῆς ); in the latter he says very distinctly that women were allowed to enter through the great gate on the east. With such discrepancies in the description of the only eye-witness whose evidence has been preserved, it is impossible to speak with certainly. But it seems probable that there were two gates on the east—one the beautiful and costly gate of Corinthian brass, elaborately described by Josephus, through which the women did pass; the other the greater gate, just opposite to and above the beautiful gate ( ἡ ὑπὲρ τὴν κορινθίαν ) , leading from the court of the women to the inner court; and that Josephus has confounded one with the other in his descriptions. Anyhow, the beautiful gate was probably on the east. Its correct name is said to be the gate of Nicanor. The temple . It must be remembered that the whole platform, including the porches, and the courts of the Gentiles and of the women, and the outer court and the court of the priests, was called τὸ ἱερόν ; the actual house was called ὁ ναός ; that part of the ἱερόν to which only Israelites were admitted, was called τὸ ἅγιον . Josephus also divides the precincts into the first, second, and third ἱερόν . The description of this lame man laid at the gate of the temple to ask alms is very similar to that in Luke 16:20 of Lazarus laid at the rich man's gate; only that the word for laid is in St. Luke ἐπέβλητο , and here is ἐτίθουν .