Mark 10:21-25

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 money 1  to the poor, and you will have treasure 2  in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 10:22 But at this statement, the man 3  looked sad and went away sorrowful, for he was very rich. 4 

10:23 Then 5  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, 6  “Children, how hard it is 7  to enter the kingdom of God! 10:25 It is easier for a camel 8  to go through the eye of a needle 9  than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

1 tn 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.

2 sn 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.

3 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man who asked the question in v. 17) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

4 tn Grk “he had many possessions.” This term (κτῆμα, kthma) is often used for land as a possession.

5 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

6 tn Grk “But answering, Jesus again said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

7 tc Most mss (A C D Θ Ë1,13 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.

8 tc 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.

9 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).