mighty men of valour: They were not only porters, or door keepers, in the ordinary sense of the word, but they were a military guard to the gate, as Dr. Delaney suggests that the word shoarim: should be rendered here, and perhaps in this sense alone are we to understand their office, which appears to have been of considerable dignity, and conferred only on men of the first rank.
They were appointed to attend the temple, to guard all the avenues to it, to open and shut all the outer gates, and attend at them, not only for state but for service. They were also required to direct and instruct those who were going to worship in the courts of the sanctuary in the conduct they were to observe, to encourage those who were timid, to send back the strangers and unclean, and to guard against thieves and others who were enemies to the house of God.