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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT ESA WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Mat C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28
Mat 19 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30
OET (OET-LV) And he said to_him:
Why are_you_asking me about the good?
one is the good.
But if you_are_wanting to_come_in into the life, be_keeping the commands.
OET (OET-RV) “Why are you asking me about what’s good?” Yeshua responded. “Only one is good. But if you’re wanting to enter into life, you should obey God’s commands.”
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.
“Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Jesus replied.
Jesus said to him, “Why do you(sing) ask me about the good thing to do?
Jesus answered, “You should not ask me about what is the good thing/deed to do.
Why do you ask Me about what is good?: This is a rhetorical question. It is a rebuke. Jesus rebuked the man for asking him to define what is good, when God had already made that clear.
Here are some other ways to translate this rebuke:
As a rhetorical question. For example:
Why do you ask me concerning what is good? (GNT)
Why do you ask me about what is the good thing/deed to do?
Why do you ask me about that? (REB)
As a statement or command. For example:
You should not ask me about what is good.
Do not ask me about what is the good thing/deed to do.
You should not ask me that question.
Translate this rebuke in a way that is natural in your language.
about what is good: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as about what is good is more literally “about the good.” This phrase refers to the “good deed/thing” that the young man asked about in 19:16b.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
about what is the good thing to do
concerning the good deed to do
“There is only One who is good.
There is only one person who is good.
Only God is good.
There is only One who is good: This clause refers to God. He is the only one who is good.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
There is only one person who is good
God is the only one/being who is good
Only God is good (CEV)
If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
If you want God to give you eternal life, obey/follow the laws of God.”
If you want to live in the kingdom of God, do what he commands.”
If you want to enter life: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as enter life means the same thing as “obtain eternal life” in 19:16b.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
If you want to receive eternal life (NLT)
if you want to have life forever (NCL)
If you want to live forever in God’s kingdom
keep the commandments: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as keep means “obey” or “follow.” The word commandments refers to the commands/laws that God gave to his people through Moses.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
obey the laws of God
you must do/follow what God commanded
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases
δὲ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Τί μέ ἐρωτᾷς περί τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Εἱς ἐστίν ὁ ἀγαθός εἰ Δέ θέλεις εἰς τήν ζωήν εἰσελθεῖν τήρει τάς ἐντολάς)
The word But introduces the next thing that happened. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces the next event, or you could leave But untranslated. Alternate translation: [Then]
Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns
ὁ & εἶπεν αὐτῷ
he & said ˱to˲_him
The pronoun he refers to Jesus, and the pronoun him refers to the man who asked Jesus the question. If this is not clear for your readers, you could refer to these people more directly. Alternate translation: [Jesus said to the man]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
τί με ἐρωτᾷς περὶ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Τί μέ ἐρωτᾷς περί τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Εἱς ἐστίν ὁ ἀγαθός εἰ Δέ θέλεις εἰς τήν ζωήν εἰσελθεῖν τήρει τάς ἐντολάς)
Jesus is using the question form to rebuke the man. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate this as a statement or an exclamation. Alternate translation: [Do not ask me about what is good.] or [You should not ask me about what is good!]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular
ἐρωτᾷς & θέλεις & τήρησον
˱you˲_˓are˒_asking & ˱you˲_˓are˒_wanting & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Τί μέ ἐρωτᾷς περί τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Εἱς ἐστίν ὁ ἀγαθός εἰ Δέ θέλεις εἰς τήν ζωήν εἰσελθεῖν τήρει τάς ἐντολάς)
Throughout this verse, the word you and the command are singular because Jesus is speaking to the young man.
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
εἷς ἐστιν ὁ ἀγαθός
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Τί μέ ἐρωτᾷς περί τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Εἱς ἐστίν ὁ ἀγαθός εἰ Δέ θέλεις εἰς τήν ζωήν εἰσελθεῖν τήρει τάς ἐντολάς)
When Jesus says One is good, he is referring to God. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [One is good, that is, God] or [God alone is good]
Note 6 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases
(Occurrence 2) δὲ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Τί μέ ἐρωτᾷς περί τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Εἱς ἐστίν ὁ ἀγαθός εἰ Δέ θέλεις εἰς τήν ζωήν εἰσελθεῖν τήρει τάς ἐντολάς)
The word But indicates that Jesus is about to stop analyzing what the man said and will go on to answer the man’s question. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that signals this kind of transition, or you could leave But untranslated. Alternate translation: [but about what you asked,] or [but as for your question,]
Note 7 topic: grammar-connect-condition-fact
εἰ
if
Jesus speaks as if this were a hypothetical situation, but he means that it is true. If your language does not state something as a condition if it is certain or true, and if your readers might think that what Jesus is saying is uncertain, then you could translate his words as an affirmative statement. Alternate translation: [because]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
εἰς τὴν ζωὴν εἰσελθεῖν
into (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Τί μέ ἐρωτᾷς περί τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Εἱς ἐστίν ὁ ἀγαθός εἰ Δέ θέλεις εἰς τήν ζωήν εἰσελθεῖν τήρει τάς ἐντολάς)
Jesus speaks as if life were a house into which someone could enter. He is referring to experiencing or receiving life. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [to experience life] or [to receive life]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
εἰς τὴν ζωὴν εἰσελθεῖν
into (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Τί μέ ἐρωτᾷς περί τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Εἱς ἐστίν ὁ ἀγαθός εἰ Δέ θέλεις εἰς τήν ζωήν εἰσελθεῖν τήρει τάς ἐντολάς)
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: [to be able to live]
OET (OET-LV) And he said to_him:
Why are_you_asking me about the good?
one is the good.
But if you_are_wanting to_come_in into the life, be_keeping the commands.
OET (OET-RV) “Why are you asking me about what’s good?” Yeshua responded. “Only one is good. But if you’re wanting to enter into life, you should obey God’s commands.”
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.
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