DOOR (דֶּ֫לֶת, H1946, door; פֶּ֫תַח, H7339, doorway; θύρα, G2598, door, doorway). Ancient doors usually were made of wood, sometimes sheeted with metal as in the case of city gates or in large public buildings. Sometimes they were made of one slab of stone, or, rarely, a single piece of metal. Hinges on doors, as known today, were unknown; instead, doors turned on pivots set in sockets above and below. The sockets were made of stone or, sometimes, of metal. In Egypt, the hinge consisted of a socket of metal with a projecting pivot, into which two corners of the door were inserted. A wide doorway had a pair of folding doors (Isa 45:1), which could be bolted with bars of wood (Nah 3:13) or of metal (Isa 45:2; Ps 107:16). The Temple doors were two-leaved (1 Kings 6:34). Doors were provided with a bolt (2 Sam 13:17) or with lock and key (Judg 3:23). The doorway consisted of three parts: the threshold or sill, the doorposts at the side, and the lintel. Doorways often were highly ornamented (Isa 54:12) and inscribed with sentences of Scripture in literal accordance with the law of Moses, “And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates” (Deut 11:20).

The word is also used metaphorically, as in John 10:7, “I am the door”; Acts 14:27, “he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles”; and Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” See Architecture.