Commentators note that the figure of two ways was a frequent one, not only in the Old Testament and Jewish world, but also in the Greek and Hellenistic world. It was also used widely in early Christian writings, and the Qumran sect speaks of the way of light and the way of darkness.

A literal translation shows the formal structure of the Greek of verses 13-14:

Enter through the narrow gate;
for wide [is the gate] and easy is the way
that leads to destruction
and many are those entering it;
how narrow [is the gate] and hard is the way
that leads to life
and few are those finding it.

The first line gives the command, and in the remaining lines the section “for wide…” is followed by “how narrow…” in perfectly parallel form, with individual words contrasting with each other; for example, wide and narrow, few and many, easy and hard. Most translators will find it useful to retain such parallel contrasts, but they should feel free to make adjustments necessary for their own languages.

In the first line, in many languages one cannot simply say Enter but must specify what one is to enter. In these cases translators can say “Enter life” or “When you look for a path to follow for life, go through the narrow gate.” Another way is to say “When you go into life, go in through the narrow gate.”

There is no problem in the contrast between the adjectives narrow and wide.

The Greek text uses the same word for gate in this and the following verse. However, Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition uses “door” where the modifier “narrow” occurs, and “gate” where the modifier “wide” is used, since these are the appropriate words in German in this context. Scholars are of divided opinion regarding the relation between the gate and the way. Some believe that the order (gate … way) is inverted: the narrow way leads to the gate of the city of God, and the wide way leads to the gate of hell. Others hold the two figures to be an example of hendiadys, that is, that the two figures represent a single idea. They find support for their argument in the observation that the same verb (enter) is used both of the gate and the way.

Gate does not usually pose many problems, but it sometimes is translated as “entrance.” In the second occurrence, when the text speaks of the gate that leads to destruction, it may even be translated as “the way in” or “the place one passes through.”

In some manuscripts gate is lacking in its second occurrence in this verse. (Note that the places where some manuscripts omit gate are marked with square brackets in the literal translation.) In Greek both gate and way are feminine, and so there is no problem as far as modifiers are concerned if gate is deleted from the text. For example, Jerusalem Bible has “since the road that leads to perdition is wide and spacious,” which follows the manuscript tradition that omits gate from the text. A similar textual problem exists in verse 14, and there Moffatt follows the textual tradition that drops the word gate (“But the road that leads to life is both narrow and close”). A number of translations follow the textual evidence that includes gate in both occurrences, but provide a footnote indicating the alternative possibility (New English Bible, Revised Standard Version). TC-GNT is convinced that the textual evidence in favor of the inclusion of gate in both instances is overwhelming. They account for its omission as a deliberate act made by some copyists “who failed to understand that the picture is that of a roadway leading to a gate.”

The Greek adjective rendered easy really means “broad, spacious, roomy” and is almost synonymous with wide. When used as a noun it may refer to a large and spacious room in which one can live comfortably. It will be good if a term can be used that will contrast with hard in verse 14. Although the sentence can be “the way is broad,” the sense may be seen a little better in a sentence like “the way is easy to travel on.”

Destruction (Good News Translation “hell”) is translated “perdition” by Jerusalem Bible and New English Bible; it is “damnation” in New American Bible. Barclay translates “ruin.” Most translations agree with Revised Standard Version in using the noun destruction, which is the literal meaning of the Greek noun. It may be used of destruction in general or of the final destruction, that is, hell. In verse 14 life certainly refers to eternal life, and by analogy destruction must be given the meaning “eternal destruction” or “eternal death,” which would be equivalent to “hell.”

Some translations will say “eternal destruction.” If translators decide to use “hell,” they must be sure that the term they are using does give the idea of something final and destructive. For example, “place of the dead,” an expression that is acceptable for hell in some contexts, may not be acceptable here, depending on how the culture perceives such a place.

And those who enter by it are many is translated “and there are many who travel it” by Good News Translation. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “many are traveling on it.” It may also be possible to coordinate the translation with the expression for Enter in the first line.

Translators will notice that Good News Translation has restructured this verse somewhat by putting “to hell” directly after “gate.” Many other translators will do the same thing. They may have, for example, “for the gate people go through to final destruction (or, hell) is a wide one, and the road that goes there is broad (or, easy for traveling).” Good News Translation has then indicated that there are many people on this road, whereas in the text, the idea is more that there are many people who go through the wide gate. If translators have restructured as we suggested above, then they may need to repeat “gate,” as in “and there are many people who go through that wide gate.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .