Acts 12:13

Acts

RHODA

Act 12:13.

‘Rhoda’ means ‘a rose,’ and this rose has kept its bloom for eighteen hundred years, and is still sweet and fragrant! What a lottery undying fame is! Men will give their lives to earn it; and this servant-girl got it by one little act, and never knew that she had it, and I suppose she does not know to-day that, everywhere throughout the whole world where the Gospel is preached, ‘this that she hath done is spoken of as a memorial to her.’ Is the love of fame worthy of being called ‘the last infirmity of noble minds’? Or is it the delusion of ignoble ones? Why need we care whether anybody ever hears of us after we are dead and buried, so long as God knows about us? The ‘damsel named Rhoda’ was little the better for the immortality which she had unconsciously won.

Now there is a very singular resemblance between the details of this incident and those of another case, when Peter was recognised in dim light by his voice, and the Evangelist Luke, who is the author of the Acts of the Apostles, seems to have had the resemblance between the two scenes-that in the high priest’s palace and that outside Mary’s door-in his mind, because he uses in this narrative a word which occurs, in the whole of the New Testament, only here and in his account of what took place on that earlier occasion. In both instances a maid-servant recognises Peter by his voice, and in both ‘she constantly affirms’ that it was so. I do not think that there is anything to be built upon the resemblance, but at all events I think that the use of the same unusual word in the two cases, and nowhere else, seems to suggest that Luke felt how strangely events sometimes double themselves; and how the Apostle who is here all but a martyr is re-enacting, with differences, something like the former scene, when he was altogether a traitor. But, be that as it may, there are some lessons which we may gather from this vivid picture of Rhoda and her behaviour on the one side of the door, while Peter stood hammering, in the morning twilight, on the other.

I. We may notice in the relations of Rhoda to the assembled believers a striking illustration of the new bond of union supplied by the Gospel.

Rhoda was a slave. The word rendered in our version ‘damsel’ means a female slave. Her name, which is a Gentile name, and her servile condition, make it probable that she was not a Jewess. If one might venture to indulge in a guess, it is not at all unlikely that her mistress, Mary, John Mark’s mother, Barnabas’ sister, a well-to-do woman of Jerusalem, who had a house large enough to take in the members of the Church in great numbers, and to keep up a considerable establishment, had brought this slave-girl from the island of Cyprus. At all events, she was a slave. In the time of our Lord, and long after, these relations of slavery brought an element of suspicion, fear, and jealous espionage into almost every Roman household, because every master knew that he passed his days and nights among men and women who wanted nothing better than to wreak their vengeance upon him. A man’s foes were eminently those of his own household. And now here this child-slave, a Gentile, has been touched by the same mighty love as her mistress; and Mary and Rhoda were kneeling together in the prayer-meeting when Peter began to hammer at the door. Neither woman thought now of the unnatural, unwholesome relation which had formerly bound them. In God’s good time, and by the slow process of leavening society with Christian ideas, that diabolical institution perished in Christian lands. Violent reformation of immoralities is always a blunder. ‘Raw haste’ is ‘half-sister to delay.’ Settlers in forest lands have found that it is endless work to grub up the trees, or even to fell them. ‘Root and branch’ reform seldom answers. The true way is to girdle the tree by taking off a ring of bark round the trunk, and letting nature do the rest. Dead trees are easily dealt with; living ones blunt many axes and tire many arms, and are alive after all. Thus the Gospel waged no direct war with slavery, but laid down principles which, once they are wrought into Christian consciousness, made its continuance impossible. But, pending that consummation, the immediate action of Christianity was to ameliorate the condition of the slave. The whole aspect of the ugly thing was changed as soon as master and slave together became the slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel has the same sort of work to do to-day, and there are institutions in full flourishing existence in this and every other civilised community as entirely antagonistic to the spirit and principles of Christianity as Roman slavery was. I, for my part, believe that the one uniting bond and healing medicine for society is found in Jesus Christ; and that in Him, and that the principles deducible from His revelation by word and work, applied to all social evils, are their cure, and their only cure. That slight, girlish figure standing at the door of Mary, her slave and yet her sister in Christ, may be taken as pointing symbolically the way by which the social and civic evils of this day are to be healed, and the war of classes to cease.

II. Note how we get here a very striking picture of the sacredness and greatness of small common duties.

Bhoda came out from the prayer-meeting to open the gate. It was her business, as we say, ‘to answer the door,’ and so she left off praying to go and do it. So doing, she was the means of delivering the Apostle from the danger which still dogged him. It was of little use to be praying on one side of the shut door when on the other he was standing in the street, and the day was beginning to dawn; Herod’s men would be after him as soon as daylight disclosed his escape. The one thing needful for him was to be taken in and sheltered. So the praying group and the girl who stops praying when she hears the knock, to which it was her business to attend, were working in the same direction. It is not necessary to insist that no heights or delights of devotion and secret communion are sufficient excuses for neglecting or delaying the doing of the smallest and most menial task which is our task. If your business is to keep the door, you will not be leaving, but abiding in, the secret place of the Most High, if you get up from your knees in the middle of your prayer, and go down to open it. The smallest, commonest acts of daily life are truer worship than is rapt and solitary communion or united prayer, if the latter can only be secured by the neglect of the former. Better to be in the lower parts of the house attending to the humble duties of the slave than to be in the upper chamber, uniting with the saints in supplication and leaving tasks unperformed.

Let us remember how we may find here an illustration of another great truth, that the smallest things, done in the course of the quiet discharge of recognised duty, and being, therefore, truly worship of God, have in them a certain quality of immortality, and may be eternally commemorated. It was not only the lofty and unique expression of devotion, which another woman gave when she broke the alabaster box to anoint the feet of the Saviour which were to be pierced with nails to-morrow, that has been held worthy of undying remembrance. The name and act of a poor slave girl have been commemorated by that Spirit who preserves nothing in vain, in order that we should learn that things which we vulgarly call great, and those which we insolently call small, are regarded by Him, not according to their apparent magnitude, but according to their motive and reference to Him. He says, ‘I will never forget any of their works’; and this little deed of Rhoda’s, like the rose petals that careful housekeepers in the country keep upon the sideboard in china bowls to diffuse a fragance through the room, is given us to keep in memory for ever, a witness of the sanctity of common life when filled with acts of obedience to Him.

III. The same figure of the ‘damsel named Rhoda’ may give us a warning as to the possibility of forgetting very plain duties under the pressure of very legitimate excitement.

‘She opened not the door for gladness,’ but ran in and told them. And if, whilst she was running in with her message, Herod’s quaternions of soldiers had come down the street, there would have been ‘no small stir’ in the church as to ‘what had become of Peter.’ He would have gone back to his prison sure enough. Her first duty was to open the door; her second one was to go and tell the brethren, ‘we have got him safe inside’; but in the rush of joyous emotions she naively forgot what her first business was, ‘lost her head,’ as we say, and so went off to tell that he was outside, instead of letting him in. Now joy and sorrow are equally apt to make us forget plain and pressing duties, and we may learn from this little incident the old-fashioned, but always necessary advice, to keep feeling well under control, to use it as impulse, not as guide, and never to let emotion, which should be down in the engine-room, come on deck and take the helm. It is dangerous to obey feeling, unless its decrees are countersigned by calm common sense illuminated by Scripture. Sorrow is apt to obscure duty by its darkness, and joy to do so by its dazzle. It is hard to see the road at midnight, or at midday when the sun is in our eyes. Both need to be controlled. Duty remains the same, whether my heart is beating like a sledge-hammer, or whether ‘my bosom’s lord sits lightly on its throne.’ Whether I am sad or glad, the door that God has given me to watch has to be opened and shut by me. And whether I am a door-keeper in the house of the Lord, like Rhoda in Mary’s, or have an office that people think larger and more important, the imperativeness of my duties is equally independent of my momentary emotions and circumstances. Remember, then, that duty remains while feeling fluctuates, and that, sorrowful or joyful, we have still the same Lord to serve and the same crown to win.

IV. Lastly, we have here an instance of a very modest but positive and fully-warranted trust in one’s own experience in spite of opposition.

I need not speak about that extraordinary discussion which the brethren got up in the upper room. They had been praying, as has often been remarked, for Peter’s deliverance, and now that he is delivered they will not believe it. I am afraid that there is often a dash of unbelief in immediate answers to our prayers mingling with the prayers. And although the petitions in this case were intense and fervent, as the original tells us, and had been kept up all night long, and although their earnestness and worthiness are guaranteed by the fact that they were answered, yet when the veritable Peter, in flesh and blood, stood before the door, the suppliants first said to the poor girl, ‘Thou art mad,’ and then, ‘It is his angel! It cannot be he.’ Nobody seems to have thought of going to the door to see whether it was he or not, but they went on arguing with Rhoda as to whether she was right or wrong. The unbelief that alloys even golden faith is taught us in this incident.

Rhoda ‘constantly affirmed that it was so,’ like the other porteress that had picked out Peter’s voice amongst the men huddled round the fire in the high priest’s chamber.

The lesson is-trust your own experience, whatever people may have to say against it. If you have found that Jesus Christ can help you, and has loved you, and that your sins have been forgiven, because you have trusted in Him, do not let anybody laugh or talk you out of that conviction. If you cannot argue, do like Rhoda, ‘constantly affirm that it is so.’ That is the right answer, especially if you can say to the antagonistic party, ‘Have you been down to the door, then, to see?’ And if they have to say ‘No!’ then the right answer is, ‘You go and look as I did, and you will come back with the same belief which I have.’

So at last they open the door and there he stands. Peter’s hammer, hammer, hammer at the gate is wonderfully given in the story. It goes on as a kind of running accompaniment through the talk between Rhoda and the friends. It might have put a stop to the conversation, one would have thought. But Another stands at the door knocking, still more persistently, still more patiently. ‘Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If any man open the door I will come in.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12:13-17 Rhoda was so surprised when Peter appeared that she left him standing at the closed door. Both she and the other believers were amazed by God’s answer to their prayers (12:5).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act 12:13. Τοῦ πυλῶνος, the vestibule or porch) [atrium, entrance room] before the house itself. Πύλη, is the gate: πυλὼν implies something larger and more spacious, and expresses either the large gate or even the entrance next to it, the unclosed Subdiale, ὑπαίθριον, open gallery. Peter entered through the gate into this πυλὼν, atrium, and then into the house. What Mark, Mar 14:68, calls the προαύλιον, is the πυλὼν of Mat 26:71, the porch.—προῆλθε) came forward.[67] The antithesis is εἰσδραμοῦσα, having run in, Act 12:14.—ὑπακοῦσαι, to answer the knock, to hearken) ענה, LXX. ὑπακούειν.

[67] The reading προσῆλθε had been preferred by the larger Ed.; but the reading προῆλθε was elevated from the sign ε to the sign γ in the margin of Ed. 2, and is presented to us by the Germ. Vers. along with the Gnomon.—E. B.

Lachm. and Tisch., with the oldest authorities, read προσῆλθεν.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_12:13-14. Τὴν θύραν τοῦ πυλῶνος] the wicket of the gate (Act_10:17). On κρούειν or κόπτειν, used of the knocking of those desiring admission, see Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 177 f.; comp. Becker, Charikl. I. p. 130.

παιδίσκη] who, amidst the impending dangers (comp. Joh_20:19), had to attend to the duties of a watchful doorkeeper; she was herself a Christian.

ὑπακοῦσαι] For examples of this expression used of doorkeepers, who, upon the call of those outside, listen (auscultant) who is there, see Kypke, II. p. 60, and Valckenaer, p. 489 f.

τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ Π.] the voice of Peter (calling before the door).

ἀπὸ τὴς χαρᾶς] prompted by the joy (which she now experienced; comp. Luk_24:41), she did not open the door at once, but ran immediately in to tell the news to those assembled.

ἀπήγγ. ἑστάναι κ.τ.λ.] εἰσαγγέλλειν is the more classical term for the announcement of a doorkeeper. See Sturz, Lex. Xen. II. p. 74.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 12:13 . τὴν θ . τοῦ πυλῶνος : the door of the gateway, cf. Act 10:17 . πυλών as in Mat 26:71 , of the passage leading from the inner court to the street, so that strictly the door in the gateway opening upon this passage would be meant, cf. εἰσδ ., Act 12:14 (and προσῆλθε , Act 12:13 ). κρούσαντος : to knock at a door on the outside, cf. Luk 13:25 , but elsewhere in Luke without τὴν θύραν , Luk 11:9-10 ; Luk 12:36 (Mat 7:7 , Rev 3:20 ); so too in classical Greek, Xen., Symp. , i., 11, see Rutherford, New Phrynichus , p. 266; in LXX, Jdg 19:22 , Son 5:2 , Jdt 14:14 . παιδίσκη , i.e. , the portress, cf. Joh 18:17 , see Rutherford, u. s. , p. 312; Kennedy, Sources of N. T. Greek , p. 40. ὑπακοῦσαι , R.V., “to answer,” cf. above, Xen., Symp. , i., 11 (so in Plato, Phædo , 59 e , etc.). Ῥόδη : a rose, cf. Dorcas and other names of the same class. The name occurs in myths and plays, see Blass’s note.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We obtain more of God, than we dare well hope for.

Out of the place where they were assembled, but not out of the house.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

came to hearken--not to open; for neither was it a time nor an hour of night for that, but to listen who was there.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. As Peter knocked] The door was probably shut for fear of the Jews; and, as most of the houses in the east have an area before the door, it might have been at this outer gate that Peter stood knocking.

A damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda.] She came to inquire who was there. Rhoda signifies a rose; and it appears to have been customary with he Jews, as Grotius and others remark, to give the names of flowers and trees to their daughters: thus Susannah signifies a lily, Hadassah, a myrtle, Tamar, a palm tree, &c., &c.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(13) A damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda.—The mention of the name of the slave indicates St. Luke’s care in ascertaining details, as far as his opportunities allowed. The office of opening the door to strangers was commonly assigned, as in the case even of the high priest’s palace (Mat_26:69; Mat_26:71), to a female slave. The name, which means “a rose,” is of the same class as Tamar = a palm tree; Deborah = a bee; Margarita = a pearl; Dorcas = an antelope.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13–19. Surprise of the brethren, and anger of Herod

13. at the door of the gate] The first named is the wicket which was opened for anyone’s admission; the second is the porch into which admission was obtained by the small door.

a damsel came to hearken] Perhaps we have here a trace of the danger which at this time surrounded the disciples from this zeal for Judaism on the part of Herod. Saul had entered into every house and carried off men and women to prison (Act_8:3), and there was a prospect of a like persecution. So Rhoda was not minded to open till she knew who was seeking for admission.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, &c. 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 "the door", and "the gate"; see Jdg 18:16 where the Septuagint use the same words as here. Kimchi (h) says,

"xtp, "the door" is what is of the gate, without the folding doors; for all is called "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.

(h) Sepher Shorash. rad.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda.

Ver. 13. To hearken] Before she opened, lest some pursuivant or such like evil angel at that time of the night should have haunted them. Opposition is Evangelii genius, the life of the church, saith Calvin, Piety is no target against persecution.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

At the door of the gate - Rather the door of the vestibule, or principal entrance into the house. The house was entered through such a porch or vestibule, and it was the door opening into this which is here intended. See the notes on Mat 9:2.

A damsel - A girl.

Came to hearken - To hear who was there.

Named Rhoda - This is a Greek name signifying a rose. It was not unusual for the Hebrews to give the names of flowers, etc., to their daughters. Thus, Susanna, a lily; Hadessa, a myrtle; Tamar, a palm-tree, etc. (Grotius).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The door of the gate; this was the outermost door to the porch, or court before the house.

A damsel came to hearken; being in great fear of a suprisal, they ordered one to observe, and give an answer unto any that should come to the house; which was the more heedfully done, because it was at an unseasonable time of the night; yet these holy men broke their rest, and exposed themselves to many fears and dangers, rather than not to assemble to serve God, when they could not serve him otherwise.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. The gate—The street gate entering into the area in front of the house. (See note in vol. i, p. 326.)

Rhoda—Signifying rose bush. The mention of this name, with the maiden’s behaviour, marks the thorough minuteness of the narrative. Luke may have derived it from John Mark himself.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When he for as Peter, A.V. and T.R.; maid for damsel, A.V.; to answer for to hearken, A.V. (uJpakousai). The door of the gate. (see Act_10:17, note) To hearken or listen seems the best rendering. It is the phrase proper to a doorkeeper, whoso business it is to go to the door and listen when any one knocks, and find out what their business is before opening the door. This is the primary sense of the word; that of answering after listening is a secondary sense. At a time of such alarm to Christians a knock at the door in the dead of the night would carry terror with it, and careful listening to ascertain whether there was more than one person, and then to ask who was there and what was his business, was the natural course.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The gate - At some distance from the house; to hearken - If any knocked.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

13-16. Although the condition of Peter was the burden of the prayers of these disciples, they were by no means expecting his deliverance, and were most likely praying that he might be enabled to endure with fortitude a death which they regarded as inevitable. (13) " And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to hear who it was. (14) And recognizing the voice of Peter, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in and told that Peter was standing before the gate. (15) But they said to her, You are mad. But she positively affirmed that it was really so. Then they said, It is his angel. (16) But Peter continued knocking, and when they had opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. "

When we remember that these disciples were so familiar with miracles, it is rather surprising that the deliverance of Peter should have caused so much astonishment. It shows that they were still disposed, like ourselves, to estimate the probabilities of even what God may do, by the difficulties of the execution. This is really judging of God by the standard of human ability. While we are compelled to approach the unknown through the known, we will, perhaps, never rise above this weakness. Still, it should not, even in the most difficult cases, check the fervency of our prayers. They undervalued the power or the willingness of God to grant their desires, in the day of miracles, as we undervalue his power to work without miracles; yet their prayers were none the less fervent or persistent.

When Rhoda insisted that it was Peter at the gate, and the disciples said, It is his angel, they undoubtedly had allusion to the popular superstition of their day, that a man's guardian angel sometimes assumed his form. Before this, the twelve had twice imagined that they saw a disembodied spirit; once when they saw Jesus walking on the water, and once when he miraculously entered a closed room where they were sitting. These facts show how strong a hold the popular superstitions had upon their minds. But while the conception that angels sometimes assumed the forms of those whom they guarded, and that disembodied spirits were sometimes visible, was superstitious, we must not forget that beneath this superstition there was a solemn reality. Jesus says, "Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven." Paul asks, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall inherit salvation?" And David, under the old economy, says, in his own poetic style, "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them who fear him." In view of these statements, we can not doubt that the ministration of angels in behalf of the saints is still a reality.

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13–17. A damsel came to hearken. It was in the night, and they were Christians. The knocker might be an enemy or a friend. The damsel, a maid-servant, had charge of the door.

When she knew Peter's voice. In answer to her question who might be at the door. Instead of opening, in her gladness, she flew to tell the good news, a touch of nature.

It is his angel. The Jews held that every one had his guardian angel, and they thought his angel had assumed Peter's voice. A mistake, and Luke does not say whether the idea on which it was based is true or not.

They were astonished. They could hardly believe their own eyes.

Beckoning … hold their peace. Their joy was so tumultuous that he could not be heard. Go shew these things to James. Not the apostle, but the brother of the Lord, so conspicuous after this as the pastor of the church at Jerusalem. Peter's message seems to recognize the fact that he was a leading man. Perhaps the apostles had retired from the city for fear of Herod. For notices of James, see Acts 15:13; 21:18; Gal. 1:19 and 2:9, 12.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

Here the words "she" and "her" all refer to the servant girl Rhoda.

General Information:

Here the words they" and "They" refer to the people who were inside praying. (See: Acts 12:12)

he knocked

"Peter knocked." Tapping on the door was a normal Jewish custom to let others know you wish to visit them. You may need to change this to fit your culture.

at the door of the gate

"at the outer door" or "at the door of the entrance from the street to the courtyard"

came to answer

"came to the gate to ask who was knocking"

out of joy

"because she was so joyful" or "being overly excited"

failed to open the door

"did not open the door" or "forgot to open the door"

came running into the room

You may prefer to say "went running into the room in the house"

she reported

"she told them" or "she said"

standing at the door

"standing outside the door." Peter was still standing outside.

You are insane

The people not only did not believe her, but rebuked her by saying she was crazy. AT: "You are crazy"

she insisted that it was so

"she insisted that what she said was true"

They said

"They answered"

It is his angel

"What you have seen is Peter's angel." Some Jews believed in guardian angels and may have thought that Peter's angel had come to them.

translationWords

servant

joy

angel

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

13–19. SURPRISE OF THE BRETHREN AND ANGER OF HEROD

13. αὐτοῦ for τοῦ Πέτρου with אABDLP. Vulg. ‘eo.’

13. τὴν θύραν τοῦ πυλῶνος, the door of the gate. θύρα is the wicket which was opened for any one’s admission, while πυλών is the porch into which admission was obtained through the θύρα. ἡ θύρα τοῦ πυλῶνος occurs in the LXX. Eze 40:11; also in Jdg 18:16-17, in which latter place the expression applies to the gate of a city, which had also its wicket.

ὑπακοῦσαι, to hearken. Perhaps we have here a trace of the danger which at this time surrounded the disciples from this zeal for Judaism on the part of Herod. Saul had entered into every house and carried off men and women to prison (Act 8:3), and there was a prospect of a like persecution. So Rhoda was not minded to open till she knew who was seeking for admission.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Door of the gate. The small outside door, forming the entrance from the street, and opening into the pulwn, or doorway, the passage from the street into the court. Others explain it as the wicket, a small door in the larger one, which is less probable.

A damsel [παιδισκη] . Or maid. The word was used of a young female slave, as well as of a young girl or maiden generally. The narrative implies that she was more than a mere menial, if a servant at all. Her prompt recognition of Peter's voice, and her joyful haste, as well as the record of her name, indicate that she was one of the disciples gathered for prayer. Rhoda. Rose. The Jews frequently gave their female children the names of plants and flowers : as Susannah (lily); Esther (myrtle); Tamar (palm - tree). "God, who leaves in oblivion names of mighty conquerors, treasures up that of a poor girl, for his church in all ages" [θυεσνελ] .

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.