# 狭き門 or Narrow Gate



## ducatichik02

I'm interested in getting a tattoo in Kanji that embodies the following quote from Matthew 7:13...Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

From what I've found on the internet, 狭き門 is the kanji translation of "narrow gate/obstacle/school hard to enter".  The first character is narrow and the last is gate but the middle is the hiragana ki and I'm not sure why it's there.  

I was wondering if anyone could help me clarify or provide any insight into the translation of narrow gate or enter by the narrow gate since I don't want to tattoo something that's inaccurate.  Thanks so much!


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## Strutter

Just because 狭き = narrow, 門 = gate　in this case.  Anyway, I think 狭き門 is a funny word as a tattoo in Japanese. If I were you, I would never do.


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## ducatichik02

I'm interested to hear why you would never get it as a tattoo.  Does it have an odd meaning?  When I read that it can also be translated as obstacle I felt that it wasn't just saying "narrow gate."


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## almostfreebird

ducatichik02 said:


> Could you explain why the ki is used in semaki mon?  Is that an actual kanji/hiragana phrase or is it just the title of a book.



"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction." is translated as "狭き門より入れ。滅びに至る門は大きくその道は広い。" in the Bible(Japanese version), which is written in classical style thus sounds august.

狭き門(narrow gate) より(through) 入れ(enter).


You need き in 狭き門 to read semaki mon. There's no such word as 狭門.(as far as I know)


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## lammn

狭き is the archaic form of the adjective 狭い, which means "narrow".

I'm not sure whether you believe in God, because you are quoting some scriptures from the Bible.
If you believe in God, I advise you not to put tattoo on your body because God has said:



> Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:28)


 
Religious belief aside, most Japanese people dislike tattoo. They think that people with tattoo are yakuza (gangsters).


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## almostfreebird

yazuka--->yakuza


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## Strutter

ducatichik02 said:


> I'm interested to hear why you would never get it as a tattoo.  Does it have an odd meaning?  When I read that it can also be translated as obstacle I felt that it wasn't just saying "narrow gate."



Haha, it's hard to explain why I recommend you not to do though. At least, yes, as you said, I think it isn't just saying "narrow gate".  It rather means only "something hard to enter" and doesn't mean any divine meaning. 

PS: I think "大和魂", "質実剛健", "臥薪嘗胆", "国士無双" and much more are cool as tattoos.


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## almostfreebird

By the way, the yakuza don't tatoo characters; they do hardcore drawings deep into the skin so they cannot delete it all their life.  http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&...tle&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQsAQwAA&biw=1248&bih=688


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## ducatichik02

Strutter said:


> Haha, it's hard to explain why I recommend you not to do though. At least, yes, as you said, I think it isn't just saying "narrow gate".  It rather means only "something hard to enter" and doesn't mean any divine meaning.
> 
> PS: I think "大和魂", "質実剛健", "臥薪嘗胆", "国士無双" and much more are cool as tattoos.



Thank you guys for all of your input!!   You saved me several hundred dollars in translating fees.  Strutter would you mind telling me what your tattoo ideas are in english?

On a side note: The way the Yakuza tattoo themselves is an ancient way of tattooing that does not use the traditional "pen" that most people associate with tattoos.  Instead they use a row of needles (usually made from bamboo) and a chisel to imbed the ink.  From what I've heard its extremely painful and time consuming but is a dying art form.


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## Strutter

ducatichik02 said:


> Strutter would you mind telling me what your tattoo ideas are in english?



Oops, I didn't expect you would ask me the meaning of them at all.  Well, okay, I'll try, unfortunately, my English wouldn't express it completely though.  Anyway, I'll do my best to explain the meaning of them in the words that follow.

"大和魂"
Yamato(Japanese) spirit. (literal)
More or less similar to "Bushido".
Indomitable courage.

"質実剛健"
Simple and strong. (literal)
Not do anything else flamboyantly but steadily.

"臥薪嘗胆"
Great perseverance in accomplishing a goal. 

"国士無双"
Unrivaled.


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