How Archaeology Helps Interpret Jesus’ Reference To “…the Gates of Hell…”
Joseph LoMusio
(Joseph LoMusio is pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Fullerton, CA. He is also an Assistant to the Director of the Archaeological Research Collection at the University of Southern California.)
Satan’s Throne
Too often in our occidental culture, we fail to remember that the Bible is an oriental book. How many times in reading the Scriptures do we try and run references that have a decidedly Near Eastern context, through the grid of our Western thinking? When this is done, not only do we miss the historical/ cultural significance of the text, but we can also miss out on some important spiritual truth as well.
One such illustration is Matthew 16:18. Standing at the base of Mount Hermon, with its rock altars to the god Pan, Jesus probed the disciples for feedback on His own identity and ministry. He proceeds to declare His intention to build His church, and then adds this compelling statement, “… the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
I am convinced that the average westerner (certainly most Americans) have little context in which to put this phrase. We live in a land of unwalled cities, therefore we have no need for city gates. With the exception of our wild-west days and the need of frontier forts, we do not sense any practical use for gates. Subsequently, we think of a gate as simply a swinging door opening or closing a passageway. It is simply the means by which we gain access into something.
Now while the gate in antiquity gave people access to their city
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(Genesis 23:10), strategically it accomplished more than that. When Jesus referred to the “Gates of hell,” the disciples understood precisely what he was implying, for they would have understood the full significance of the city gate: Understanding it as they understood it, will unlock meaningful truth for us today.
City Gates Uncovered
Archaeological excavations have uncovered the foundations of numerous ancient city gates. Virtually without exception, they were large, detailed and uniquely designed structures. Historical research verifies that city gates served a number of vital functions—as we shall see—socially, politically, legally and militaristically.
The Bible details these functions as well. In Scripture we see that gates were often large, many-vaulted structures with roofs and adjoining chambers (II Samuel 18:24; 33). It seems most obvious that the gate was an essential military device in the wall of any ancient city. Excavations at Lachish, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, Tel en-Nasbeh (Mizpah), as well as elsewhere, all reveal a “fortress” type gate. Large towers often flanked the structure, which was always placed in such a way as to prohibit direct access into the city. The chambers within the gate lay on either side and provided a staging and ambush area for soldiers. To conquer the gate was virtually synonymous with conquering the city. Indeed, the gate was a prize to be possessed (Genesis 22:17; 24:60; Nahum 3:13).
Focal Point Of City Life
The main gate of the city usually was part of and opened into the marketplace, as we see in II Kings 7:1. An ancient reference to Jerusalem during Hezekiah’s reign mentions “… the open square of the city gate…” (2 Chronicles 32:6).
Recent reports on excavations at Tel Batash (Biblical Timnah) refer to a large gate complex. The archaeologists record, “The city-gate area was more than simply a fortified entrance to the city. A large square Or piazza inside the city, adjacent to the gate, served as a marketplace and as a focal point of the city’s social life.”1 The Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem is an illustration of this to this very day.
As mentioned above, it was customary for the city fathers to
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Artist’s Reconstruction Of The City Gate Of Gezer
congregate in the gate complex, and eventually this gave way to the common practice of everything from legal transactions to judicial decrees being performed there. Indeed, the Israelites were commanded to “appoint Judges and Officers in all your gates…” (Deuteronomy 16:18). Parents of rebellious children were to bring them “out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city” (Deuteronomy 21:19).
The law of the “kinsman redeemer” was carried out in the gate of the city (Deuteronomy 25:7; Ruth 4:1–7). And in Daniel’s day the “King’s gate” was actually the equivalent of the “King’s court.” The gate was undoubtedly the place of honor and prestige. A sought-after reputation for a man was to be “known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land” (Proverbs 31:23).
The Place Of Royal Display
Furthermore, the gate was the place of royal display where ancient potentates strutted their stuff. King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah, “… having put on their robes, sat each on his throne.., at the entrance to the gate of Samaria.” (1 Kings 22:10). And the image of pompous Haman, making a grand entrance into the gate of Shushan, so that all could bow and pay homage to him is fresh in the minds of all those who have read the book of Esther. Even David took advantage of the city gate to attain a higher visibility before the people (2 Samuel 19:8).
We should also take note that less than noble activities transpired within the confines of the gate. Gossip and slander (Psalm 69:12): plotting and scheming (Isaiah 29:21);
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idolatry (2 Kings 23:8); and insurrection and rebellion (2 Samuel 15:1–6).
So significant was the idea of the city gate in the ancient near east that it became the fitting symbol of the city itself. Othmar Keel writes, “When in Ps. 122:1–3 the pilgrim expresses his desire to stand in the gates of Jerusalem, he does not have in mind merely the moment of arrival, but also his entire sojourn in Jerusalem.”2
It is little wonder, then, that the city gate ultimately became personified. The gates, we are told, could lift up their heads and “look” (Psalm 24:7, 9); “lament” (Isaiah 3:26); and “languish” (Jeremiah 14:2).
What Are The Gates Of Hell?
The point of all this, as it pertains to Jesus’ statement, is that the term “gate” carried with it all the above mentioned dynamics. Some have attempted to understand the reference to “hades” in Matthew 16:18 in an all too simplistic sense of it being a fortress having an entrance way. Then again, the gates of hell are thought of as an euphemism for the realm of the dead, and Jesus was simply stating that His church would not be at the mercy of physical death.
Some others refer to an inability of “death” to assault and overpower the church, which therefore pictures the church as being on the defensive. Still others understand “… shall not prevail…” as implying “shall not stand against,” and thereby pictures the church on the offensive. In this context the church is seen to be triumphantly storming the citadel of hell and crashing the gates of hades!
While this is all very inspiring, unfortunately it misses the whole point. Let us not forget that perhaps the most lasting impression of the city gate was that it was the gathering place of nobles and elders.
The gate was the “nerve center” (although not geographically the center) of any ancient near eastern city. Ellicott observes: “As the gates of the eastern city were the scene at once of kingly judgment.., and of the council of elders … they become the natural symbol of the polity which ruled there.”3
Matthews agrees, suggesting that the city gate was of “central importance to life in Biblical times,” and that the gate “symbolized power and authority.”4
The Last Judgment
Painting by Hubert van Eyck (1462). Detail shows departed souls descending from earthly graves down into the lower regions. Michael, with raised sword, stands above the skeleton of Death whose bat wings spread over the tormented souls of the damned in hell.
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The All-Important Symbolism
The disciples would have instinctively known this. Undoubtedly they would have understood Jesus’ words, “the gates of Hell,” to mean, as it were, “THE LEADERSHIP OF HELL”… “THE ELDERS OF HELL.” His words were a descriptive reference to both the place and the activity of the seething, scheming polity of the underworld!
Vincent concluded that, “The expression GATES OF HADES is an orientalism for the court, throne, power, and dignity of the infernal kingdom.”5 Similarly, Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest concurs, saying “The word ‘gates’ is an orientalism for the idea of centralized legal authority… The word refers to a council.”6
The great reformer John Calvin understood it to mean, “all the power of Satan,” and that by the word “gates,” Jesus “unquestionably meant every kind of power and of weapons of war.”7 DeWette understood the reference as being “equivalent to the Kingdom of Satan.”8
The Pylons Of Power!
It may be interesting to note further, that the Analytical Greek Lexicon, in discussing the word for “gate” (pylai, pulai, from which came pylon, pulon, the word from which our word “pylon” is derived), suggests that its use in Matthew 16:18 means “the netherworld and its powers, the powers of destruction and dissolution.”9
Jesus, then, was informing His followers that all the combined scheming and plotting of the vast host of demons, with Satan at their head, would never be able to overcome the construction and perpetuity of His church. To be sure, they will try—but they will never prevail!
Wuest argues, correctly I believe, that the generally accepted idea of hades being the abode of the dead is not an adequate translation for Matthew 16:18. He bases this on the strength that “the wicked dead in that place have no power to overcome the church, and the righteous dead there.., had neither the desire nor the power… All that is left in the unseen world are Satan and his demons.”10
Hence, for Wuest, Jesus’ reference to the gates of hell is appropriately the “COUNCIL OF THE UNSEEN” that desires to destroy the church.
The Divine Versus The Demonic
Matthew 16:18 is a comment on the spiritual warfare that rages between things divine and the demonic. Consider how graphically the Apostle Paul describes the gates of hell when he writes to the Ephesians. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12 NASB)
With the knowledge we gain from archaeological research relative to ancient city gates, plus the numerous references in the Scriptures themselves, we are able to reconstruct an exciting and accurate interpretation of a difficult saying of Jesus.
We come to understand that in Matthew 16:18, Jesus Christ was not dealing with a structure, but with a spirit; not with mortar and stone, but with principalities and powers; not with a way in and out, but with wickedness in high places. He had in mind, not just an abstract idea of gates in hades, but the concrete reality of the government of hell!
The Apostle Paul’s reference to the “devices” and tactics of the Devil and his forces in 2 Corinthians 2:11, is a statement on their intellectual
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Demon Wrestles With A Human
Painting by Michelangelo (1564). Detail of “The Last Judgment” with demon atttempting to drag a human down to judgment, Note look of horror on subject’s half-covered face, also demon and helper holding onto lower portion of legs.
prowess and scheming plots. In Ephesians 6:11, Paul refers to the “wiles of the devil,” and uses a word from which our word “methods” is derived.
It seems clear that both Jesus and Paul wanted us to understand that our spiritual enemy is not just some ragtag group of ignorant amateurs. They are, in fact, a well-schooled cartel of sophisticated superminds. They are organized, sinister, and deadly. They are, shall we say, a sort of spirit-world mafia.
Therefore, it was concerning these PYLONS OF POWER that Jesus warned about. So being forewarned, we are forearmed, let us take courage in the truth that the Builder of the Church promised complete victory over the “Gates of hell.”