In English, the main difference between a gate and a door
would seem to be that a gate allows and prevents access to the perimeter of a
space (e.g., a gate allows access through a fence or some other barrier) or
provides security for an interior space (e.g., a baby-gate prevents access to
stairs for young children), whereas a door allows and prevents access to the
interior of a building or to a room. In Koine Greek, there is a significant
semantic overlap between θυρα and
πυλη, as is evidenced by the fact that both
nouns are regularly used to translate שׁער in the LXX. For example, in Ezek
44:12 LXX the two occurrences of the noun שׁער, which have the same referent,
are translated with πυλη in
the first instance and θυρα in
the second . . . (David J. Downs, “Jesus the Good: Gate Christology in the
Gospel of John and in Second-Century Christianity,” in John Among the New
Testament Writers: Early High Christology, ed. Christopher M. Blumhofer,
Diane G. Chen, and Joel B. Green [Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2024], 274 n. 8)
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