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 Matthew 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).

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 the 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, etc., etc.

(6) And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel (d) came to hearken, named Rhoda.
(6) We obtain more from God than we dare well hope for.
(d) Out of the place where they were assembled, but not out of the house.

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 Judges 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.

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.

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; Acts 21:18; Galatians 1:19 and Galatians 2:9, Galatians 2:12.

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