Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 7:14
Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
14. because ] To be taken after “enter ye” as in preceding verse, or it gives a reason why many go in at the wide gate.
narrow ] Literally, pressed, confined.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 14. Because strait is the gate] Instead of because, I should prefer how, which reading is supported by a great majority of the best MSS., versions, and fathers. How strait is that gate! This mode of expression more forcibly points out the difficulty of the way to the kingdom. How strange is it that men should be unwilling to give up their worldly interests to secure their everlasting salvation! And yet no interest need be abandoned, but that which is produced by injustice and unkindness. Reason, as well as God, says, such people should be excluded from a place of blessedness. He who shows no mercy (and much more he who shows no justice) shall have judgment without mercy. Jas 2:13.
Few there be that find it.] The strait gate, , signifies literally what we call a wicket, i.e. a little door in a large gate. Gate, among the Jews, signifies, metaphorically, the entrance, introduction, or means of acquiring any thing. So they talk of the gate of repentance, the gate of prayers, and the gate of tears. When God, say they, shut the gate of paradise against Adam, He opened to him the gate of repentance. The way to the kingdom of God is made sufficiently manifest – the completest assistance is promised in the way, and the greatest encouragement to persevere to the end is held out in the everlasting Gospel. But men are so wedded to their own passions, and so determined to follow the imaginations of their own hearts, that still it may be said: There are few who find the way to heaven; fewer yet who abide any time in it; fewer still who walk in it; and fewest of all who persevere unto the end. Nothing renders this way either narrow or difficult to any person, but sin. Let all the world leave their sins, and all the world may walk abreast in this good way.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
14. Because strait is the gate, andnarrow is the way, which leadeth unto lifeIn other words, thewhole course is as difficult as the first step; and (so it comes topass that).
few there be that find itTherecommendation of the broad way is the ease with which it is troddenand the abundance of company to be found in it. It is sailing with afair wind and a favorable tide. The natural inclinations are notcrossed, and fears of the issue, if not easily hushed, are in thelong run effectually subdued. The one disadvantage of this course isits endit “leadeth to destruction.” The great Teachersays it, and says it as “One having authority.” To thesupposed injustice or harshness of this He never once adverts. Heleaves it to be inferred that such a course righteously, naturally,necessarily so ends. But whether men see this or no, here He laysdown the law of the kingdom, and leaves it with us. As to the otherway, the disadvantage of it lies in its narrowness and solicitude.Its very first step involves a revolution in all our purposes andplans for life, and a surrender of all that is dear to naturalinclination, while all that follows is but a repetition of the firstgreat act of self-sacrifice. No wonder, then, that few find and feware found in it. But it has one advantageit “leadeth untolife.” Some critics take “the gate” here, not for thefirst, but the last step in religion; since gates seldom open intoroads, but roads usually terminate in a gate, leading straight to amansion. But as this would make our Lord’s words to have a veryinverted and unnatural form as they stand, it is better, with themajority of critics, to view them as we have done. But since suchteaching would be as unpopular as the way itself, our Lord nextforewarns His hearers that preachers of smooth thingsthe trueheirs and representatives of the false prophets of oldwould berife enough in the new kingdom.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way,…. And so, difficult to enter in at; and when entered, the way is unpleasant to the flesh to walk in, being hedged up on each side with afflictions and tribulations; and moreover, is like the “narrow place”, or , “the strait place”, as the Septuagint in
Nu 22:26 render it; in which the angel that met Balaam stood; and in which there was no turning to the right hand or the left; and such is the way to eternal happiness. The great encouragement to walk on in it is, because it is that way
which leadeth unto life: unto eternal life: it certainly leads thither; it never fails of bringing persons to it; believers in Christ, all that walk in Christ the way, though they are said to be “scarcely” saved, by reason of their afflictions and trials, they meet with in their way to the kingdom; yet they are, and shall be certainly saved: they shall be safely brought to glory; which will be an abundant recompense for all the troubles and sorrows that have attended them in their journey.
And few there be that find it; the way, and so consequently the life it leads to. “The gate is strait”; small and little, and so unobserved: there is but one way to heaven, and the generality of men neglect it. “The way is narrow”, and so disagreeable; the company few, and not engaging. Men choose large gates, broad ways, and much company. The flesh loves to walk at liberty, unconfined, and uncontrolled, and with a multitude to do evil: hence, Zion’s ways are thin of passengers; a small number, comparatively speaking, walk thereto, and will be saved; a remnant, a little flock, a little city, and few men in it. It is asked in the Talmud q,
“why is the world to come created with “jod?” (the least of the letters in the “Hebrew alphabet”) the answer is, because , “the righteous which are in it are few”.”
Some read the words, as the Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate Latin, with a note of admiration, “how strait is the gate!” &c. and so some copies.
q T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 29. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “Because strait is the gate,” (hoti stene he pule) “Because strait (restricted is) the gate;” The passage door-way is one that has Divinely disclosed restrictions in choice of service and conduct, morally, ethically, and religiously, in spiritual exercise, Joh 14:6; Act 4:12; Luk 9:23; 1Jn 2:15-17.
2) “And narrow is the way,” (kai tethlimmene he hodos) “And made or existing narrow or restricted is the way,” the way of Christ, contrasted with that of Moses, the law, etc., Jesus came to and did fulfill the law and the prophets, raised the Divine standards required in them, to a higher plane, as standards of behavior for which they should strive, Mat 5:17; Ac 3:18,29; Gal 5:14.
3) “Which leadeth unto life,” (he apagousa eis ten zoen) “Which is leading away into life,” life eternal, more abundant life, that grants, not merely an entrance, but an “abundant entrance” into glory, Joh 10:10; 2Pe 1:11.
4)”And few there be that find it.” (kai oligoi eisin hoi keuriskontes auten) “And few are the ones who are finding it,” seeking or searching to pursue the restricted way, of salvation in Christ, and the greatest degree of glory which is given to God by and through Him and the church which He purchased with His own blood, Act 20:28; Eph 3:21. The two ways may be described as follows:
1) The strait gate, narrow way through which men are called to glory is by a) Salvation in and through Jesus only, Joh 10:9-10; Joh 14:6; Act 4:12; Joh 8:24. b) The way of behavior through which one passes to the abundant and more abundant life is through the doctrinal, moral, and ethical standards one is called to embrace and follow in life through His church, Mat 5:13-15; Act 20:28; Eph 3:21.
2) The broad way is that of rebellion against God, as each does as he chooses, lives as he pleases, does in humanism, “his own thing” Jud 21:25; Pro 14:12; Joh 8:24.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(14) Narrow is the way.Literally, pressed, or hemmed in between walls or rocks, like the pathway in a mountain gorge.
Which leadeth unto life.Noteworthy as the first passage in our Lords recorded teaching in which the word life appears as summing up all the blessedness of the kingdom. The idea is developed as we advance; the life becomes eternal, and finally we are taught that the eternal life consists in the true and perfect knowledge of God and Christ (Joh. 17:2-3).
Few there be that find it.The sad contrast between the many and the few runs through all our Lords teaching. He comes to save the world, and yet those whom He chooses out of the world are but as a little flock. They are to preach the gospel, and yet the result will be but discord and division. The picture is a dark one, and yet it represents but too faithfully the impression made, I do not say on Calvinist or even Christian, but on any ethical teacher, by the actual state of mankind around us. They are, for the most part, unconscious of the greatness of their lives, and of the interests at stake in them. If there is any wider hope, it is found in hints and suggestions of the possibilities of the future (1Pe. 3:19; 1Pe. 4:6); in the fact that the words used are emphatically present; in the belief that the short span of this life is not necessarily the whole of the discipline of a soul made for eternity; and that the new life, nascent, and feeble, and stunted here, may be quickened by some new process of education into higher energies.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Few there be that find it They do not look for it. They see the crowd rushing through the broad gate; they desire nothing better than so liberal a route, and they would not press through the narrow way if before their eyes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mat 7:14-15 . ] quam (Vulg.): how strait is the gate! as conforming to the Sept., which renders in this sense by (2Sa 6:20 ; Son 7:6 ; Luk 12:49 ), though not good Greek. The rendering why, as though there were something sorrowful in the question (Fritzsche), is unsuited to the whole tone of the discourse.
] The strait gate requires to be sought, so far is it from being readily seen, or from obtruding itself upon the attention.
By most, the gate is erroneously conceived to be at the end of the way; with Bengel, Schegg, and Lange, it is to be understood as at the beginning of it, as opening into it, for which reason, in Mat 7:13-14 , the gate is mentioned before the way. The entering by the strait gate is therefore the entering into life (into the Messiah’s kingdom), but still brought about through following the narrow way, which is reached by means of the strait gate.
] But in order to find it, beware, and so on.
The are not the Pharisees (Tholuck), nor Jews, pretending to be divine messengers (Bleek), nor people like Judas the Galilean (Act 5:37 , de Wette), but false Christian teachers without a divine call (Mat 24:11 ; Mat 24:24 ), as is evident from Mat 7:21-23 . Comp. Chrysostom, Calvin, Grotius, Calovius. A warning in view of coming events, and such as Jesus knew His followers would soon be needing.
.] dressed in sheep’s clothing. Here we are not to think of literal sheep skins (Grotius, Kuinoel), seeing that these were worn by others, and were not specially the prophets’ dress (comp. Mat 3:4 ), but as emblematic of the outward appearance of innocence and gentleness, not of the external profession of a member of the Christian church (“nominis Christiani extrinsecus superficies,” Tertullian, de praescr. 4), which would have been admissible only if the context had spoken of the church in the light of a flock, in which case the false prophets would have been far more appropriately represented as in shepherds’ clothing. Bengel well remarks: “Vestibus ut si essent oves.”
] i.e., according to the figure; under the sheep’s clothing; in reality; in their true inner nature, which is disguised by hypocrisy. With , as representing soul-destroying agency, comp. Act 20:29 ; Joh 10:12 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Ver. 14. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, &c. ] “In Lollards’ tower, passing through six or seven doors I came to my lodging” (saith Philpot, martyr) “through many straits; where I called to remembrance, that strait is the way to heaven.” The old copies read, Oh, how strait is the gate! by way of admiration, q.d. It is wondrous strait. a Not of itself, for Christ’s yoke is easy, and his burden light; but we make it so hard and heavy to ourselves, by our singular peevishness and perverseness. Besides, the prince of darkness and his black guard favour this way, that is called holy, as little as the Philistine princes did David, yea, they persecute it to the death as Saul did, Act 9:1-2 . Hence the way to heaven is an afflicted way, a perplexed, persecuted way, crushed close together with crosses (as the word importeth), b as was the Israelites’ way in the wilderness, or that of Jonathan and his armourbearer, that had a sharp rock on the one side and a sharp rock on the other. And, while they crept upon all fours, flinty stones were under them, briers and thorns on either hand of them, mountains, crags, and promontories over them, sic petitur coelum, so heaven is caught, by pains, by patience, by violence, affliction being our inseparable companion. “The crossway is the highway to heaven,” said that martyr. And another, “If there be any way to heaven on horseback, it is by the cross.” Queen Elizabeth is said to have swum to the crown through a sea of sorrows. They that will to heaven must sail by hell’s gates. They that will have knighthood, must kneel for it; and they that will get in at the strait gate, must crowd for it. “Strive to enter iu at the strait gate,” saith our Saviour. Strive and strain even to an agony (as the word signifieth). Heaven is compared to a hill, Psa 121:1 ; hell to a hole. To hell a man may go without a staff (as we say), the way thereto is easy, steep, strewed with roses. c It is but a yielding to Satan, a passing from sin to sin, from evil purposes to evil practices, from practice to custom, &c. Sed revocare gradum, but to turn short again, and make strait steps to our feet, that we may force through this strait gate (so strait, that as few can walk in it, so none can halt in it, but must needs go upright), hic labor, hoc opus est, onus non pulvinaris sed pulveris, this is a work of great pains, a duty of no small difficulty. “Many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter,” but seeking serves not turn. Men must strive, and strive lawfully, run, and run lustily, tug and take pains till they sweat and faint, to get through this strait gate, this perplexed way; as unpleasant to nature as the way to Nineveh was to Jonah; as rough and rugged as that was to the Church, Hos 2:6 ; as little traced and trod as the highways to Sion hill, which were overgrown with grass, because few or none came to the solemn feasts, Lam 1:4 .
And few there be that find it ] So hard is it to hit, and as dangerous to miss. Many byways there are (these are so many highways to hell), besides false guides and steep declines not a few, to divert us: the devil with his false directions leading men hoodwinked to hell, as Elijah did the Syrians to Samaria. The world with its allurements and affrightments, -oh, how hardly scape we through the corruptions that are in the world through lust! d Our own hearts, how heavy are they to be drawn this way! A bear comes not unwillingly to the stake. It goes hard with a man when he must peremptorily deny himself; when he must deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, as dear unto him as himself, and be tied to live holily, righteously, and soberly in this present world, Tit 2:12 ; making conscience of those duties which the most men’s hearts rise at, as to be hot in religion, fervent in spirit, precise in his whole course, conscientious and cautious of the least sin, &c. Heaven is a stately palace with a narrow portal, hence so few enter it. The proud man with his high looks cannot stoop to it. The ambitious with his aspiring thoughts cannot bend to it. The malicious is swollen too big for it. The covetous with his load of thick clay cannot get through it. The drunkard with his rotten lungs, the adulterer with his wasted loins, can have no admittance into it. There can in no wise enter anything filthy or loathsome, abominable or detestable, which a man would abhor for the ill-savour (as the word signifieth, Rev 21:27 ), e such as for the baseness thereof cannot be well named, it is so noisome to the senses. As soon may these men find fishes swimming in a wood, fruit trees growing in the sea, heaven in hell, as enter into the strait gate, not living strictly. Which because few can frame to, but deride those that do (counting and calling them, as the Spaniards are said to do the Portugals, poco y locos, few and foolish), therefore few are saved. Our Saviour calleth his flock a “little little flock,” two diminutives,Luk 12:32Luk 12:32 , standing (as that small army of Israel in Ahab’s time) “like two little flocks of kids,” 1Ki 20:27 , when the wicked (as those Syrians then) fill the country. Was it not so, when Jerome complained that the whole world was turned Arian, f and Basil cried out, An Ecclesias suas prorsus dereliquit Dominus? Hath God utterly forsaken his Church? &c. “The love of many shall wax cold, but he that endureth to the end,” &c. It is but a “he,” in the singular, that endureth to the end, the “many” fall away from their former steadfastness.
a , i.e. , saith Theophylact; saith the Syriac. Non quia dura, sed quia molles patimur.
b , pressa: res enim compressione fiunt aretiores. Beza. Manibus pedibusque obnixe omnia facere. Terent.
c , . Hes.
d Irritamenta, terriculamenta,2Pe 1:72Pe 1:7 .
e quod, propter foeditatem, nemo non aversatur. , pedo.
f Ingemuit orbis, et miratus est se subito factum esse Arianum. Jerome.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
14. ] gives a second reason, on which that in Mat 7:13 depends: strive, &c., for broad is, &c., because narrow is, &c. The reason why the way to destruction is so broad, is because so few find their way into the narrow path of life . This is not merely an arbitrary assignment of the , but there is a deep meaning in it. The reason why so many perish is not that it is so ordained by God, who will have all to come to the knowledge of the truth, but because so few will come to Christ, that they may have life; and the rest perish in their sins. See notes on ch. Mat 25:41 . The reading (adopted by Lachmann, Tregelles, Meyer, De Wette) will not bear the signification commonly assigned to it, ‘ How narrow is the gate? ’ And the interrogative meaning (Meyer) is inconsistent with , which follows.
, restricted, crushed in, in breadth: i.e. as Clem. Alex [88] Strom. Mat 7:5 (31), p. 664 , . . , , . , .
[88] Alex. Clement of Alexandria, fl. 194
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Because strait. L Tr. R margin Syriac. Vulgate &c., and some fifty codices read “How strait”.
narrow = straitened.
unto. Greek. eis. Same as “to”, Mat 7:14.
life: i.e. the life [eternal]. See note on Lev 18:5. App-170.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
14.] gives a second reason, on which that in Mat 7:13 depends: strive, &c., for broad is, &c., because narrow is, &c. The reason why the way to destruction is so broad, is because so few find their way into the narrow path of life. This is not merely an arbitrary assignment of the , but there is a deep meaning in it. The reason why so many perish is not that it is so ordained by God, who will have all to come to the knowledge of the truth,-but because so few will come to Christ, that they may have life; and the rest perish in their sins. See notes on ch. Mat 25:41. The reading (adopted by Lachmann, Tregelles, Meyer, De Wette) will not bear the signification commonly assigned to it, How narrow is the gate? And the interrogative meaning (Meyer) is inconsistent with , which follows.
, restricted,-crushed in, in breadth: i.e. as Clem. Alex[88] Strom. Mat 7:5 (31), p. 664 , . . , , . , .
[88] Alex. Clement of Alexandria, fl. 194
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 7:14. , …, because straight, etc.) Many read , …,[319] HOW straight, etc., as in the S. V. of 2Sa 6:20. where [320] is rendered by -sc. -HOW glorious was the king of Israel to-day! But there the expression is ironical.-The true reading is undoubtedly,[321] – , …,-BECAUSE broad-BECAUSE straight. Thus in 1Ki 21:15, [322] (rendered by the LXX.) occurs twice.- , : For, Naboth is not alive, but dead.[323] The last has the force of but; and is thus rendered by the LXX. in Dan 9:18, and 2Ch 20:15. See also Heb 8:10-11.[324]-, it) sc. the gate. Cf. the commencement and conclusion of Mat 7:13.
[319] Lachm. reads , with B corrected by a second hand, CLbc Vulg. Syr. Cypr. But Tischend. , with B corrected by the first hand, X. Orig. 3, 527b, and Memph. for is a Hellenistic idiom, Psa 8:1. where for the LXX. other versions have . The may be a gloss on taken with the positive, as it is often with superlatives, intensively ( , etc.): so in Plato , valde celeriter. However Bengel makes , as before , so to be repeated before in the sense sed, but.-ED.
[320] What, or how.-(I. B.)
[321] Thus also E. M.-(I. B.)
[322] For a full account of this word and its meanings, see Geseniuss Lexicon in voce.-(I. B.)
[323] Literally-Because Naboth is not living, because he has died.-(I. B.)
[324] is the expression used of the future life of blessedness: for the present life is not life at all.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
because: or, How
narrow: Mat 16:24, Mat 16:25, Pro 4:26, Pro 4:27, Pro 8:20, Isa 30:21, Isa 35:8, Isa 57:14, Jer 6:16, Mar 8:34, Joh 15:18-20, Joh 16:2, Joh 16:33, Act 14:22, 1Th 3:2-5
and few: Mat 20:16, Mat 22:14, Mat 25:1-12, Luk 12:32, Luk 13:23-30, Rom 9:27-29, Rom 9:32, Rom 11:5, Rom 11:6, Rom 12:2, Eph 2:2, Eph 2:3, 1Pe 3:20, 1Pe 3:21
Reciprocal: Gen 18:24 – there Num 3:39 – and Aaron Num 4:48 – General Deu 7:7 – ye were Ezr 10:13 – the people Psa 1:1 – way Psa 16:11 – path Psa 139:24 – the way Pro 2:9 – General Pro 9:6 – in Pro 14:12 – General Pro 15:24 – way Isa 1:9 – a very Isa 24:6 – and few Isa 41:14 – men Eze 5:3 – a few Eze 12:16 – I will Eze 42:4 – a way Mat 7:24 – whosoever Luk 13:24 – the strait Act 16:17 – the way Rom 3:17 – General 2Pe 2:2 – ways
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7:14
Both Thayer and Robinson give “narrow” as one definition of the original for strait. Narrow is from THLIBO and is defined by Thayer, “A compressed way, 1. e. narrow, straitened, Mat 7:14; figuratively to trouble, afflict, distress.” From the definition we understand the road. to eternal life is one in which the traveler will be pressed with hardships and persecutions. It is also narrow in the ordinary sense of that word because the travelers go as individuals as far as responsibility is concerned, and just one man does not nted a wide path; the going is “single file.” Find is from HEURISKO and Thayer’s first definition is. “To come upon, hit upon, to meet with; to find a thing sought.” Not many people are looking for a way of life that will bring them hardships and tribulation, hence Jesus says few there be that find it.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
[Gate.] Under this phrase are very many things in religion expressed in the Holy Scripture, Gen 28:17; Psa 118:19-20; Mat 16:18; etc.; and also in the Jewish writers. ‘The gate of repentance’ is mentioned by the Chaldee paraphrast upon Jer 33:6; and ‘the gate of prayers,’ and ‘the gate of tears.’ “Since the Temple was laid waste, the gates of prayer were shut, but the gates of tears were not shut.”
Strait gate; seems to be the Greek rendering of Pishpesh; a word very usual among the Talmudists: “With a key he opened the little door; and out of Beth-mokad” (the place of the fire-hearth)”he entereth into the court.” Pishpesh; saith the Aruch, is a little door in the midst of a great door.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 7:14. Straitened (lit, pressed together) is the way. Even after we pass through the gate the Christian course continues difficult, is a constant conflict and self-denial, but it leadeth unto life. Eternal life which begins in this world, but is obtained in its fulness in eternity. The way to destruction is broad because it is used by so many.
Few are they that find the straitened way. It is not even discovered by most, much less entered upon. This not because God has made it so strait, but because so few desire to find it.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
7:14 Because {c} strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
(c) The way is straight and narrow: we must pass through this rough way and suffer, endure, be changed and so enter into life.