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Acts 12:13

13 When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer.

Acts 12:13 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 12:13

And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate
The lesser door in the great gate, or the door of the porch through which they entered into the house. So the Jews distinguish between (xtp) , "the door", and (rev) , "the gate"; see ( Judges 18:16 Judges 18:17 ) ( Ezekiel 40:11 ) where the Septuagint use the same words as here. Kimchi


FOOTNOTES:

F8 says,

``(xtp) , "the door" is what is of the gate, without the folding doors; for all is called (rev) , "the gate", whether within or without, with the folding doors, and the outward threshold, as that is joined to the side posts and lintel.''

The door was kept shut, for fear of the Jews, lest they should be disturbed: here Peter stood and knocked:

a damsel came to hearken;
hearing a knocking, she came out to the door, and listened, to try if she could know who it was, a friend or a foe, before she opened; or she came "to answer", as the Syriac version renders it, to know who was there, and what he or she wanted, and to give an answer. And the damsel was

named Rhoda,
which signifies a rose in the Greek language: so the Jewish women often had their names, in the Hebrew tongue, from flowers and trees, as Susanna from a lily, or rose: and which, perhaps, was the Hebrew name of this damsel; and Esther was called Hadassah, from the myrtle tree.


F8 Sepher Shorash. rad. (xtp)

Acts 12:13 In-Context

11 Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."
12 As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many had gathered and were praying.
13 When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer.
14 On recognizing Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate.
15 They said to her, "You are out of your mind!" But she insisted that it was so. They said, "It is his angel."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.