The outer entrance is a reference to a gate. Some of the more elegant homes in Judea would have an outer door to separate the house from the street. There would then also be an inner courtyard and a gateway to pass through before one entered the house itself.1 The fact that a servant girl is part of the household affirms that the house belonged to a wealthy individual.2
13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.