Mark 10:20

10:20 The man’s reply was naive (as to what it really means to keep these commands; see Matt 5:21-48), but it was not arrogant, as the lack of any rebuke indicates (cp. Mark 12:13-17; Matt 23:1-36).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 10:20. Διδάσκαλε, Master) The young man now repeats the noun [title of address] without the epithet [good]. And yet Jesus loves him.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. all these have I observed] adding, according to St Matthew, what lack I yet? We are told that when the Angel of Death came to fetch the R. Chanina, he said, “Go and fetch me the Book of the Law, and see whether there is anything in it which I have not kept.” Farrar’s Life of Christ, ii. 161, n.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him,.... Not as God, with that special love, with which he loves his people, who were given him by the Father, are redeemed by his blood, whom he calls by his grace, justifies by his righteousness, forgives their iniquities, and, at last, glorifies: but as man, he had an human affection for him; so far as there was any appearance of moral good in him, it was agreeable to him, who loves righteousness, and hates iniquity; and though the young man betrayed much vanity, pride, and conceit, he did not use him roughly, but kindly, and tenderly; he beheld him, he looked wistly upon him, when he said the above words; which look intimated, that he could not believe he had perfectly, and completely kept all the commandments; however, he did not choose to reproach him with a lie, and charge him with pride and arrogance, but gave him good words, and spoke friendly to him; and, as far as he could, commended him for his diligence in observing the commands: in this sense the word is observed to be used by the Septuagint interpreters, as when it is said of Ahab, Ch2 18:2, that he "persuaded him" (Jehoshaphat), they render it, "he loved him to go up to Ramoth Gilead": he gave him good words, he spake friendly to him, and by fair speeches prevailed upon him: and so when it said of the Israelites, Psa 78:36; "they did flatter him", (God,) they render it, "they loved him with their mouth"; spoke very well to him, and of him, praised him, and his works, and in this way expressed affection to him, though it was only with their mouths. Moreover, Christ might not only speak kindly to this young man, but he might make use of some external gesture: which showed an human affection to him, and respect for him. Dr, Lightfoot conjectures it might be by kissing his head, which might be conveniently done, as he was now on his knees; and since this was frequently used by the Jewish doctors, as an expression of respect, of which he gives various instances; and more might be added, especially out of the book of Zohar, where we often read of one Rabbi kissing the head or another, or of his pupil. But the sense of this phrase, which pleases me best of all, is what may be collected from the use of it among the "seventy" interpreters, who often render the Hebrew which signifies to "have compassion", or "show pity", by the word here used: so Pro 28:13, "whoso confesseth and forsaketh, shall have mercy", they interpret "shall be loved" and Hos 2:23, "I will have mercy on her that had not obtained mercy", they render "l will love her that was not beloved"; once more, Zac 10:6. "I will bring them again to place them, for I have mercy upon them", they translate , "because I have loved them"; see also Isa 60:10 and then, according to this use of the word, the sense is, that Jesus looked upon him when he expressed himself in such a pert manner, and had a compassionate concern for him; he pitied him for his ignorance of the law, in its spirituality and large extent; for his pride and vanity, his conceit of, and glorying in himself: wherefore, in order to mortify him, and abate these swelling thoughts of himself;

he said unto him, one thing thou lackest; before which last clause the Ethiopic version puts this, "if thou wilt be perfect", out of Mat 19:21, see the note there: and the Coptic version, and two of Stephens's copies read it before the following,

go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me. This young man's reigning sin seems to have been an overweening affection for the things of this world; his riches were his idol, on which his heart was set, and in which he trusted: wherefore he was so far from keeping all the commandments, that he had not kept the first; "thou shalt have no other gods before me": there was more than one thing wanting in him, but Christ takes notice of this as the first; and there was no need to mention any other; this touched him sensibly, and fully tried, and sufficiently exposed the vanity of his boasted perfection. That clause, "take up the cross", is omitted in the Vulgate Latin version, as it is not mentioned by Matthew. The Ethiopic version reads it, "the cross of thy death", and places it before, "come and follow me"; as do also the Syriac and Persic versions; but the Arabic reads it last of all; See Gill on Mat 19:21.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.

Ver. 20. {See Trapp on "Mat 19:20"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We must recollect, that to the faithful observers of the Mosaic law, not only present goods were given, but the happiness of a future life promised. Hence our Lord with reason inquired, whether he had kept the commandments. The innocent life of this young man is deserving of our imitation. (Ven. Bede)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Master, all those things have I observed from my youth (efulaxamhn) literally, I kept, I guarded. St. Matthew adds here. (Mat_19:20) He "What lack I yet? is still wanting in me, that I may inherit the life to come in its fullness of glory and bliss? You seem, good Master, as a heavenly Teacher, to set forth a higher and more excellent way than that pointed out by our scribes and Pharisees. Tell me what that way is. Tell me what! still lack; for I earnestly desire to go forward in the right way that leadeth to everlasting life."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He answering, said to him, Master - He stands reproved now, and drops the epithet good.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

This assertion of the young man might be very true, according to the Pharisees’ sense and interpretation of the law, which condemned only the gross outward act, not the inward lust and motion of the heart. An outside obedience to the law this young man had performed; this made him think well of himself, and conclude the goodness of his own condition.

Learn hence, How prone men are to think the best of themselves, and to have too high an opinion of their own goodness and righteousness before God: All these things have I kept from my youth. It is a natural corruption in men to think to well of themselves, and of their own goodness and righeousness before God; but it is very dangerous and fatal so to do.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

One thing you lack

"There is one thing you are missing." Here "lack" is a metaphor for needing to do something. AT: "One thing you need to do" or "There is one thing you have not yet done" or (See: Metaphor)

give it to the poor

Here the word "it" refers to the things he sells and is a metonym for the money he receives when he sells them. AT: "give the money to the poor" (See: Metonymy)

the poor

This refers to poor people. AT: "poor people" (See: Nominal Adjectives)

treasure

wealth, valuable things

had many possessions

"owned many things"

translationWords

teacher

obey

Jesus

love

heaven

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

20. [2227][2228][2229][2230] omit ἀποκριθείς Cf. Mar 10:5.

[2227] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[2228] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[2229] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

[2230] Codex Athous Laurae. 8th cent. Like N and Σ, it is written in silver letters on purple vellum. Contains Mar 9:5 to Mar 16:20, and, as in L, the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9. As in Δ, the text of Mark is specially good.

20. Διδάσκαλε. See crit. note. This time ἀγαθέ is omitted.

ταῦτα πάντα ἐφυλαξάμην. The man’s self-satisfaction and his ignorance of what the commandments imply are manifest; but he is not so much praising himself as showing his disappointment at Christ’s answer. He had expected to be advised to undertake something exceptional and difficult, and he is told of the humdrum duties which every decent person tries to perform. Mt. and Lk. have ἐφύλαξα. So also in Act 16:4; Act 21:24, as in class. Grk. In LXX. we have both act. (Gen 26:5; Exo 12:17; Exo 20:6) and midd. (Lev 18:4; Lev 20:8; Lev 20:22; Lev 22:3), without difference of meaning. Syr-Sin. omits πάντα.

ἐκ νεότητός μου. Mt. omits this and at this point calls him νεανίσκος, which does not contradict ‘from my youth,’ for a man of thirty might be called νεανίσκος.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. Καὶ ἔφη, ταῦτα πάντα ἐφυλαξάμην—And he said, all these I kept. This claim of innocence on the part of the young man was evidently not intended to be absolute, but was simply that this had been the general course of his life, viz., a course of observance of the divine law. The cause of his dissatisfaction with himself was not that his obedience to these commands was not perfect, a perfection which was not expected by Judaism, as their system of sacrifices showed, but a secret feeling that this was not enough. ἐφυλαξάμην—I kept.2

Omit ἀποκριθεὶς, answering, Tisch. (Treg. marg.) WH. RV. א B Δ Memph. ἔφη, instead of εἶπεν, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. א BC Δ Memph.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.