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OET (OET-LV) And see, one having_approached to_him said:
Teacher, what good may_I_do in_order_that I_may_have eternal life?
OET (OET-RV) And look, a man approached Yeshua and asked him, “Teacher, what good thing do I need to do in order to have eternal life?”
In this section, a young man asked Jesus what he must do to get eternal life. Jesus gave him a standard answer, which was to obey God’s commands.
The young man apparently felt that this was not enough and asked what else he should do (19:20). Then Jesus told him to sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow him. The young man was rich, and he was not willing to sell his things. So he left.
Jesus then used the rich young man as an example. He explained that riches make it difficult to enter the kingdom (19:23–24). The saying of a camel going through the eye of a needle was probably a well-known proverb about something impossible to do. Without God making it possible, neither a rich person nor anyone else is able to enter the kingdom (19:26).
Jesus also gave a promise that those whom he asked to leave their possessions and family behind to serve him would receive great rewards (19:29).
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The Rich Young Man (NIV)
A rich young man’s questions
There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 10:17–31 and Luke 18:18–30.
Just then a man came up to Jesus and inquired,
¶ Just then, a certain man came to Jesus and asked him,
¶ Then a young man approached Jesus and said,
Just then: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Just then literally means “look” or “see.” This word brings attention to the words that follow. If you have an expression in your language that someone uses when he wants to bring attention to something that he is about to say, you should use it here.
Here are some other ways to translate this word in its context:
And behold (ESV)
Then it happened that (JBP)
Many English versions do not translate this word here.
a man: The Greek word that the BSB translates as a man is more literally the word “one” (as in the RSV). In 19:22, Matthew called him a “young man.” So here most English versions translate it as a man.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
a certain man
a young man
came up to Jesus: At the end of 19:15, Jesus began to travel. So the clause came up to Jesus probably means that the man met Jesus along the way.
This sentence starts a new section. So in some languages, it will be natural to mention the name of Jesus again. For example:
approached Jesus
“Teacher, what good thing must I do to obtain eternal life?”
“Teacher, what good work must I do to get life that never ends?”
“Master, what good thing should I do so that I can live forever in the kingdom of heaven?”
Teacher: Here, the word Teacher refers to a religious teacher. It was a polite title for a Jewish man who had authority to teach the things about God. Use a title that is an appropriate way to address a religious teacher in your culture. It should not refer only to a school teacher.There is a textual issue here. Some Greek manuscripts add a word that means “good.” Only the KJV follows these manuscripts. It is recommended that you follow the majority of English versions and translate only “teacher.”
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
Sir
Master
what good thing must I do: The Greek word that the BSB translates as good thing is more literally just the adjective “good.” In this context it refers to deeds/activities that God considers good.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
what good must I do (REB)
I must do which good work
to obtain: The Greek word that the BSB translates as obtain means “have, obtain, possess.”
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
to possess (NJB)
to gain (REB)
to get (NIV)
eternal life: The word eternal refers to something that does not end. The phrase eternal life refers to life in God’s kingdom. This life continues forever.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
unending life
life that never ends
In some languages, it may be best to translate life as a verb. For example:
to live eternally/forever
so that God will cause me to live forever
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἰδοὺ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδού εἱς προσελθών αὐτῷ εἶπεν Διδάσκαλε τί ἀγαθόν ποιήσω ἵνα σχῶ ζωήν αἰώνιον)
The word behold draws the attention of the audience and asks them to listen carefully. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express behold with a word or phrase that asks the audience to listen, or you could draw the audience’s attention in another way. Alternate translation: [take note] or [then]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj
εἷς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδού εἱς προσελθών αὐτῷ εἶπεν Διδάσκαλε τί ἀγαθόν ποιήσω ἵνα σχῶ ζωήν αἰώνιον)
Matthew is using the number one as a noun to mean one person. Your language may use numbers in the same way. If not, you could translate this one with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: [one man]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
σχῶ ζωὴν αἰώνιον
˱I˲_˓may˒_have (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδού εἱς προσελθών αὐτῷ εἶπεν Διδάσκαλε τί ἀγαθόν ποιήσω ἵνα σχῶ ζωήν αἰώνιον)
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of life, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [I might live eternally]
OET (OET-LV) And see, one having_approached to_him said:
Teacher, what good may_I_do in_order_that I_may_have eternal life?
OET (OET-RV) And look, a man approached Yeshua and asked him, “Teacher, what good thing do I need to do in order to have eternal life?”
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.