Port, Porter

PORT, PORTER (שַׁ֫עַר֒, H9133, שׁﯴעֵר, H8788). The word “port” appears once in the KJV (Neh 2:13, ASV, RSV GATE), where Nehemiah is said to have gone to the “dung port” when he inspected the walls of Jerusalem by night. In three other places, however, this is called the “dung gate” (Neh 3:13, 14; 12:31). “Port” in the sense of “gate” is obsolete in modern Eng.

The word “porter” is used often in the KJV, but the RSV substitutes “gatekeeper,” except in two cases (Ezra 7:24; Mark 13:34), where “doorkeeper” is more appropriately used. The word “porter” is now generally used in the sense of “burden-carrier,” but it is never used in that sense in Eng. VSS of the Bible.