Luke 10:42

10:42 but one thing ¹  is needed. Mary has chosen the best ²  part; it will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 18:18

The Wealthy Ruler

18:18 Now ³  a certain ruler ⁴  asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ⁵ 

[10:42]  ¹ tc Or, with some mss (̳ [א] B C² L 070^vid ˹ 33 [579] pc), “few things are needed – or only one” (as well as other variants). The textual problem here is a difficult one to decide. The shorter reading is normally preferred, but it is not altogether clear how the variants would arise from it. However, the reading followed in the translation has good support (with some internal variations) from a number of witnesses (Ì^45,75 A C* W Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï lat sa).

[10:42]  ² tn Or “better”; Grk “good.” This is an instance of the positive adjective used in place of the superlative adjective. According to ExSyn 298, this could also be treated as a positive for comparative (“better”).

[18:18]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[18:18]  ⁴ sn Only Luke states this man is a ruler (cf. the parallels in Matt 19:16-22 and Mark 10:17-22, where the questioner is described only as “someone”). He is probably a civic leader of some kind, a leader in the society.

[18:18]  ⁵ sn The rich man wanted to know what he must do to inherit eternal life, but Jesus had just finished teaching that eternal life was not earned but simply received (18:17). See the similar question about inheriting eternal life in Luke 10:25.