Lexicon
πύλη
pulē
G4439
G:N-F Greek

gate

10
Occurrences
4
Books
Greek
Language

Pule denotes an entrance or exit point, used literally of city, prison, and sacred-place access and figuratively in contrasting paths.

Most occurrences describe a physical point of entry or exit: an iron access point leading into a city, city exits, a named entrance of the sacred place, and places watched or passed beyond. Matthew 7:13 and Matthew 7:14 use the noun in a figurative contrast between wide and narrow routes, while Matthew 16:18 speaks of the gates of Hades.

Senses in use

  1. Physical entrance or exit point · dominant

    The noun marks concrete access points in movement, location, or watchfulness: in Acts 12:10 the APB renders an iron entrance that “leads into the city,” and in Acts 16:13 and Luke 7:12 it places people going out of or approaching a city entrance. Acts 3:10 names the Beautiful Gate of the sacred place, Acts 9:24 has opponents watching the gates, and Hebrews 13:12 locates suffering outside the gate.

  2. Figurative point of entry on a path · common

    In Matthew 7:13 the singular forms occur in the contrast between a narrow entrance and a wide one, with the APB rendering the associated roads as leading toward destruction. Matthew 7:14 continues the contrast, where the narrow entrance stands with a constricted road leading toward life.

  3. Gates of Hades · rare

    Matthew 16:18 uses the nominative plural form in the clause that “the gates of Hades will not prevail against” the church. The plural presents these gates as the stated opposing force in that verse.

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the occurrences, the APB commonly uses “gate” or “gates,” including “Beautiful Gate” in Acts 3:10 and “gates of Hades” in Matthew 16:18. These renderings confirm the verse-level presentation but do not by themselves fix every nuance of the noun.

Passages featuring this word

Across Scripture