Mark 10:22-38

10:22 But at this statement, the man ¹  looked sad and went away sorrowful, for he was very rich. ² 

10:23 Then ³  Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 10:24 The disciples were astonished at these words. But again Jesus said to them, ⁴  “Children, how hard it is ⁵  to enter the kingdom of God! 10:25 It is easier for a camel ⁶  to go through the eye of a needle ⁷  than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 10:26 They were even more astonished and said ⁸  to one another, “Then ⁹  who can be saved?” ¹⁰  10:27 Jesus looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans, ¹¹  but not for God; all things are possible for God.”

10:28 Peter began to speak to him, “Look, ¹²  we have left everything to follow you!” ¹³  10:29 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, ¹⁴  there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel 10:30 who will not receive in this age ¹⁵  a hundred times as much – homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with persecutions ¹⁶  – and in the age to come, eternal life. ¹⁷  10:31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Third Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

10:32 They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem. ¹⁸  Jesus was going ahead of them, and they were amazed, but those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. 10:33 “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and experts in the law. ¹⁹  They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles. 10:34 They will mock him, spit on him, flog ²⁰  him severely, and kill him. Yet ²¹  after three days, ²²  he will rise again.”

The Request of James and John

10:35 Then ²³  James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 10:36 He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 10:37 They said to him, “Permit one of us to sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.” 10:38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I experience?” ²⁴ 

[10:22]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man who asked the question in v. 17) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:22]  ² tn Grk “he had many possessions.” This term (κτῆμα, kthma) is often used for land as a possession.

[10:23]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “But answering, Jesus again said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[10:24]  ⁵ tc Most mss (A C D Θ Ë^1,13 28 565 2427 Ï lat sy) have here “for those who trust in riches” (τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐπὶ [τοῖς] χρήμασιν, tou" pepoiqota" epi [toi"] crhmasin); W has πλούσιον (plousion) later in the verse, producing the same general modification on the dominical saying (“how hard it is for the rich to enter…”). But such qualifications on the Lord’s otherwise harsh and absolute statements are natural scribal expansions, intended to soften the dictum. Further, the earliest and best witnesses, along with a few others (א B Δ Ψ sa), lack any such qualifications. That W lacks the longer expansion and only has πλούσιον suggests that its archetype agreed with א B here; its voice should be heard with theirs. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, the shorter reading is preferred.

[10:25]  ⁶ tc A few witnesses (˹³ 28 579 pc) read κάμιλον (kamilon, “rope”) for κάμηλον (kamhlon, “camel”), either through accidental misreading of the text or intentionally so as to soften Jesus’ words.

[10:25]  ⁷ sn The referent of the eye of a needle is a sewing needle. (The gate in Jerusalem known as “The Needle’s Eye” was built during the middle ages and was not in existence in Jesus’ day.) Jesus was speaking rhetorically to point out that apart from God’s intervention, salvation is impossible (v. 27).

[10:26]  ⁸ tn Grk “But they were even more astonished, saying.” The participle λέγονες (legontes) has been translated here as a finite verb to emphasize the sequence of events: The disciples were astonished, then they spoke.

[10:26]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of thought.

[10:26]  ¹⁰ sn The assumption is that the rich are blessed, so if they risk exclusion, who is left to be saved?

[10:27]  ¹¹ tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποις (anqrwpois) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NASB 1995 update, “people”). Because of the contrast here between mere mortals and God (“impossible for men…all things are possible for God”) the phrase “mere humans” has been used in the translation.

[10:28]  ¹² sn Peter wants reassurance that the disciples’ response and sacrifice has been noticed.

[10:28]  ¹³ tn Grk “We have left everything and followed you.” Koine Greek often used paratactic structure when hypotactic was implied.

[10:29]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[10:30]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “this time” (καιρός, kairos), but for stylistic reasons this has been translated “this age” here.

[10:30]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “with persecutions.” The “all” has been supplied to clarify that the prepositional phrase belongs not just to the “fields.”

[10:30]  ¹⁷ sn Note that Mark (see also Matt 19:29; Luke 10:25, 18:30) portrays eternal life as something one receives in the age to come, unlike John, who emphasizes the possibility of receiving eternal life in the present (John 5:24).

[10:32]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[10:33]  ¹⁹ tn Or “chief priests and scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[10:34]  ²⁰ tn Traditionally, “scourge him” (the term means to beat severely with a whip, L&N 19.9). BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “The ‘verberatio’ is denoted in the passion predictions and explicitly as action by non-Israelites Mt 20:19; Mk 10:34; Lk 18:33”; the verberatio was the beating given to those condemned to death in the Roman judicial system. Here the term μαστιγόω (mastigow) has been translated “flog…severely” to distinguish it from the term φραγελλόω (fragellow) used in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15.

[10:34]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[10:34]  ²² tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A^[*^] W Θ Ë^1,13 Ï sy), have “on the third day” (τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ, th trith Jhmera) instead of “after three days.” But not only does Mark nowhere else speak of the resurrection as occurring on the third day, the idiom he uses is a harder reading (cf. Mark 8:31; 9:31, though in the latter text the later witnesses also have τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ). Further, τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ conforms to the usage that is almost universally used in Matthew and Luke, and is found in the parallels to this text (Matt 20:19; Luke 18:33). Thus, scribes would be doubly motivated to change the wording. The most reliable witnesses, along with several other mss (א B C D L Δ Ψ 579 892 2427 it co), have resisted this temptation.

[10:35]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:38]  ²⁴ tn Grk “baptism I am baptized with.” This same change has been made in v. 39.