Mark 10:17-27

Context

The Rich Man

10:17 Now¹ as Jesus² was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”³ 10:18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good?⁴ No one is good except God alone. 10:19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”⁵ 10:20 The man⁶ said to him, “Teacher, I have wholeheartedly obeyed⁷ all these laws⁸ since my youth.”⁹ 10:21 As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money¹⁰ to the poor, and you will have treasure¹¹ in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 10:22 But at this statement, the man¹² looked sad and went away sorrowful, for he was very rich.¹³

10:23 Then¹⁴ 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,¹⁵ “Children, how hard it is¹⁶ to enter the kingdom of God! 10:25 It is easier for a camel¹⁷ to go through the eye of a needle¹⁸ than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 10:26 They were even more astonished and said¹⁹ to one another, “Then²⁰ who can be saved?”²¹ 10:27 Jesus looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans,²² but not for God; all things are possible for God.”

[10:17] ¹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[10:17] ²tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:17] ³sn 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 (10:15).

[10:18] ⁴sn Jesus’ response, Why do you call me good?, was designed to cause the young man to stop and think for a moment about who Jesus really was. The following statement No one is good except God alone seems to point the man in the direction of Jesus’ essential nature and the demands which logically follow on the man for having said it.

[10:19] ⁵sn A quotation from Exod 20:12-16; Deut 5:16-20, except for do not defraud, which is an allusion to Deut 24:14.

[10:20] ⁶tn Grk “He”; the referent (the man who asked the question in v. 17) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:20] ⁷tn Grk “kept.” The implication of this verb is that the man has obeyed the commandments without fail throughout his life, so the adverb “wholeheartedly” has been added to the translation to bring out this nuance.

[10:20] ⁸tn Grk “these things.” The referent of the pronoun (the laws mentioned by Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:20] ⁹sn Since my youth. Judaism regarded the age of thirteen as the age when a man would have become responsible to live by God’s commands.

[10:21] ¹⁰tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[10:21] ¹¹sn The call for sacrifice comes with a promise of eternal reward: You will have treasure in heaven. Jesus’ call is a test to see how responsive the man is to God’s direction through him. Will he walk the path God’s agent calls him to walk? For a rich person who got it right, see Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10.

[10:22] ¹²tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man who asked the question in v. 17) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:22] ¹³tn Grk “he had many possessions.” This term (κτῆμα, kthma) is often used for land as a possession.

[10:23] ¹⁴tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:24] ¹⁵tn Grk “But answering, Jesus again said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[10:24] ¹⁶tc 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] ¹⁷tc A few witnesses (Ë¹³ 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] ¹⁸sn 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] ¹⁹tn 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] ²⁰tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of thought.

[10:26] ²¹sn The assumption is that the rich are blessed, so if they risk exclusion, who is left to be saved?

[10:27] ²²tn 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.