Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Matthew 7:13

εἰσέλθετε for εἰσέλθατε was a change to a more regular form.

13. εἰσέλθατε … πύλης. Luke 13:24-25. The illustration seems to be drawn from a mansion having a large portal at which many enter, and a narrow entrance known to few, with broad and narrow ways leading respectively to each. One is the gate and the way of destruction (ἀπώλεια), the other is the gate and the way of life (ζωὴ or σωτηρία). Cp. the contrast between οἱ�, ‘those in the way of destruction,’ and οἱ σωζόμενοι, ‘those on the way of salvation or life,’ 1 Corinthians 1:18. The πύλαι are probably the palace or city gates, not, as some have inferred from the position of the words, the entrances to the two ways. πύλη is named before ὁδὸς according to a not uncommon Greek usage, as being first in thought though second in point of fact; cp. Plato, Apol. Soc. p. 18, where παῖδες is named before μειράκια, and p. 32, where ἠναντιώθην is named before ἐψηφισάμην.

To the use of ὁδὸς in this passage we may probably refer ἡ ὁδὸς and αὕτη ἡ ὁδός, meaning the Christian Church (Acts 9:2; Acts 19:9). Such usage was however influenced by the philosophic meaning of ὁδός, and the common Hebraisms ‘the way of the Lord,’ ‘the paths of righteousness,’ &c.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Matthew 7:13

Old Testament

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