In biblical literature, the term "threshold" refers to the entrance or sill of a doorway, often symbolizing a place of transition or boundary. Thresholds are mentioned in various contexts throughout the Bible, serving both literal and symbolic purposes.

Old Testament References

1. The Temple Thresholds: In the Old Testament, thresholds are frequently associated with the temple, signifying the boundary between the sacred and the profane. In Ezekiel's vision of the new temple, the thresholds are meticulously described, emphasizing their importance in the structure of the temple (Ezekiel 40:6-7). The threshold represents the point of entry into a holy space, underscoring the sanctity and reverence required when approaching God.

2. Judgment and Destruction: The threshold is also a place of judgment. In Zephaniah 1:9, the Lord declares, "On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, who fill the house of their master with violence and deceit." This passage suggests that crossing the threshold with impure intentions leads to divine judgment, highlighting the threshold as a boundary of moral and spiritual significance.

3. The Ark of the Covenant and Dagon: A notable narrative involving a threshold is found in 1 Samuel 5:4-5, where the Philistines place the captured Ark of the Covenant in the temple of Dagon. The next morning, Dagon is found fallen on the threshold, with his head and hands severed. This event leads to the tradition among the Philistines of not stepping on the threshold of Dagon's temple, illustrating the threshold as a site of divine intervention and power.

New Testament Context

While the New Testament does not explicitly focus on thresholds, the concept of entering through a doorway or gate is prevalent. Jesus refers to Himself as the "door" or "gate" for the sheep in John 10:7-9, symbolizing the threshold through which believers must pass to enter into salvation and the kingdom of God. This metaphorical use underscores the threshold as a point of transition from the old life to the new life in Christ.

Symbolic Interpretations

1. Transition and Change: The threshold often symbolizes a point of transition or change. Crossing a threshold can represent moving from one state of being to another, such as from sin to redemption or from the secular to the sacred.

2. Protection and Covenant: In ancient Near Eastern cultures, thresholds were sometimes associated with covenants and protection. The act of crossing a threshold could signify entering into a covenant relationship, and the threshold itself could be seen as a place of protection, marking the boundary of a household or community.

3. Spiritual Readiness: The threshold can also symbolize the need for spiritual readiness and purity. Just as one prepares to enter a sacred space by crossing a threshold, believers are called to prepare their hearts and lives to enter into the presence of God.

In summary, thresholds in the Bible serve as significant markers of transition, judgment, and divine presence. They remind believers of the importance of approaching God with reverence and purity, recognizing the boundaries between the holy and the common.The Thresholds

This word, Asuppe , appears to be inaccurately rendered in (Nehemiah 12:25) though its real force has perhaps not yet been discovered. The "house of Asuppim," or simply "the Asuppim," is mentioned in (1 Chronicles 26:15,17) as a part, probably a gate of the enclosure of the "house of Jehovah," apparently at its southwest corner. The allusion in (Nehemiah 12:29) is undoubtedly to the same place. [GATE]

5592b. saph -- threshold, sill
... same as saph Definition threshold, sill NASB Word Usage door (1), doorkeeper* (1),
doorkeepers* (4), gatekeepers* (1), temple (2), threshold (10), thresholds (6 ...
/hebrew/5592b.htm - 5k

5646. ab -- perhaps a landing
... Word Origin of uncertain derivation Definition perhaps a landing NASB Word
Usage threshold (2), thresholds (1). thick beam, plant. ...
/hebrew/5646.htm - 6k

Further Proofs, from Ezekiel. Summary of the Prophetic Argument ...
... And He introduced me unto the thresholds of the gate of the house of the Lord which
looketh unto the north; and, behold, there, women sitting and bewailing ...
/.../tertullian/an answer to the jews/chapter xi further proofs from ezekiel.htm

What Then? You Say; do You Declare that These Gods Exist Nowhere ...
... Who that Limentinus and Lima have the care of thresholds, and do the duties of their
keepers, when every day we see the thresholds of temples and private ...
/.../the seven books of arnobius against the heathen/9 what then you say.htm

Of the Cross, and Other Tortures of Jesus, and of the Figure of ...
... sign. [852] And the Jews even now exhibit a figure of this transaction when
they mark their thresholds with the blood of a lamb. For ...
/.../lactantius/the divine institutes/chap xxvi of the cross and.htm

Book iii. --Of the Harmony of the Fathers of the Old and New ...
... 60 Who, spurning briefly"blooming riches, left. The royal thresholds,) rather
chose to bear. His people's toils, afflicted, with bowed neck,. ...
/.../fathers of the third century tertullian appendix/book iii of the harmony of.htm

I an African Free-Town Subject to Rome
... brilliant in the morning sun, glimpses of sky of a very tender blue; here and there,
in the strip of deep shade which lies along the thresholds, white figures ...
/.../bertrand/saint augustin/i an african free-town subject.htm

The Constellations and the Genii Very Indifferent Gods the Roman ...
... her sloping (haunts); I pass silently by the deities called Forculus from doors,
and Cardea from hinges, and Limentinus the god of thresholds, and whatever ...
/.../tertullian/ad nationes/chapter xv the constellations and the.htm

Jesaia, Dem Propheten, Das Geschah. These Things the Seer Isaiah ...
... His glory filleth all the trembling earth!" With the loud cry the posts and thresholds
shook, And the whole house was filled with mist and smoke. ...
/.../bacon/the hymns of martin luther/xxv jesaia dem propheten das.htm

How the Holy Man, Egbert, Would have Gone into Germany to Preach ...
... he could deliver any of them from Satan, and bring them to Christ; or if this might
not be, he was minded to go to Rome, to see and adore the thresholds of the ...
/.../bede/bedes ecclesiastical history of england/chap ix how the holy.htm

The Minne-Singers
... come as pilgrims into our land, with their long staves and great boots; and amid
the most sultry heat and bathed in sweat, yet visit all the thresholds of the ...
/.../winkworth/christian singers of germany/the minne-singers.htm

A Young Man who Said, "Send Me"
... The foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of those who called,
and the temple was filled with smoke. Then I:said: "Woe is me! ...
//christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/a young man who said.htm

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