LUKE 10:42 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT but one thing is necessary. For Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

UST But the one thing that is really important is to listen to what I am teaching. Because Mary has chosen the best thing to do, I will not tell her to do something else.”

BSB But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, [and it] will not be taken away from her.”

MSB But only one [thing] is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, [and it] will not be taken away from her.”

BLB but one thing is necessary, only one; for Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

AICNT [but one thing is necessary;][fn] [for][fn] Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

10:42, one thing is necessary: 𝔓45 𝔓75 C(04) W(032) BYZ TR NA28 THGNT ‖ Absent from D(05) Latin(a b e ff² i). ‖ Some manuscripts read “few things are needed, or just one.” 𝔓3 ℵ(01) B(03) SBLGNT

10:42, for: 𝔓3 𝔓75 B(03) NA28 SBLGNT THGNT ‖ Absent from some manuscripts. D(05) Latin(a b e ff² i) Syriac(sy^s sy^c)/ ‖ Some manuscripts read “but.” A(02) C(04) W(032) BYZ TR

OEB but only a few are necessary, or rather one. Mary has chosen the good part, and it will not be taken away from her.’

WEBBE but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

WMBB but one thing is needed. Miriam has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

NET but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her.”

LSV but of one thing there is need, and Mary chose the good part; that will not be taken away from her.”

FBV But only one thing is really necessary. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it shall not be taken away from her.”

TCNT but only [fn]one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”

10:42 one thing is necessary. ¦ a few things are necessary, or one. SBL WH

T4T But only one thing is truly necessary, and that is, to listen to what I am teaching. Mary has decided to do that, and that is better than worrying. The blessing that she is receiving from listening to me will not be taken away from her {No one will take away from her the blessing that she is receiving from listening to me}.”

LEB But few things are necessary, or only one thing,[fn] for Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

10:42 Some manuscripts have “But one thing is necessary”

BBE Little is needed, or even one thing only: for Mary has taken that good part, which will not be taken away from her.

Moff Mary has chosen the best dish, and she is not to be dragged away from it."

Wymth and yet only one thing is really necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion and she shall not be deprived of it."
¶ 

ASV but one thing is needful: for Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

DRA But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.

YLT but of one thing there is need, and Mary the good part did choose, that shall not be taken away from her.'

Drby but there is need of one, and Mary has chosen the good part, the which shall not be taken from her.

RV but one thing is needful: for Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
(but one thing is needful: for Mary hath/has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. )

SLT And of one thing there is need: and Mary has chosen the good part which shall not be taken away from her.

Wbstr But one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

KJB-1769 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
( But one thing is needful: and Mary hath/has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. )

KJB-1611 But one thing is needefull, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not bee taken away from her.
(But one thing is needefull, and Mary hath/has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.)

Bshps Ueryly one is needefull. Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
(Verily/Truly one is needefull. Mary hath/has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.)

Gnva But one thing is needefull, Marie hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
(But one thing is needefull, Mary/Maria hath/has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. )

Cvdl there is but one thinge nedefull. Mary hath chosen a good parte, which shal not be taken awaye from her.
(there is but one thing nedefull. Mary hath/has chosen a good part, which shall not be taken away from her.)

TNT verely one is nedfull. Mary hath chosen her that good parte which shall not be taken awaye from her.
(verily/truly one is nedfull. Mary hath/has chosen her that good part which shall not be taken away from her. )

Wycl but o thing is necessarie.

Luth Eines aber ist not: Maria hat das gute Teil erwählet; das soll nicht von ihr genommen werden.
(Eines but is not: Maria has the good part/portion chosen; the should not from you(pl)/their/her taken become.)

ClVg porro unum est necessarium. Maria optimam partem elegit, quæ non auferetur ab ea.[fn]
(besides/further one it_is necessary. Maria optimam part chose, which not/no will_be_taken_away away them. )

10.42 Porro unum est. Præponitur unum multis. Non enim a multis unum, sed multa ab uno, et tamen multa sunt necessaria tendentibus ad unum. Maria optimam. Non reprehenditur pars Marthæ, quia et ipsa bona, sed laudatur pars Mariæ, quæ quare sit optima, subinfertur.

10.42 Further one it_is. Præponitur one many. Not/No because from many one, but fine away one, and nevertheless fine are necessary tendentibus to one. Maria optimam. Not/No reprehenditur part Marthæ, because and herself good(s), but is_praised part Mary, which why be optima, subinfertur.

UGNT ἑνός δέ ἐστιν χρεία; Μαριὰμ γὰρ τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο, ἥτις οὐκ ἀφαιρεθήσεται ἀπ’ αὐτῆς.
(henos de estin ⱪreia; Mariam gar taʸn agathaʸn merida exelexato, haʸtis ouk afairethaʸsetai ap’ autaʸs.)

SBL-GNT ⸂ὀλίγων δέ ἐστιν χρεία ἢ ἑνός⸃· ⸂Μαριὰμ γὰρ⸃ τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο ἥτις οὐκ ἀφαιρεθήσεται ⸀αὐτῆς.
(⸂oligōn de estin ⱪreia aʸ henos⸃; ⸂Mariam gar⸃ taʸn agathaʸn merida exelexato haʸtis ouk afairethaʸsetai ⸀autaʸs.)

RP-GNT ἑνὸς δέ ἐστιν χρεία· Μαρία δὲ τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο, ἥτις οὐκ ἀφαιρεθήσεται ἀπ' αὐτῆς.
(henos de estin ⱪreia; Maria de taʸn agathaʸn merida exelexato, haʸtis ouk afairethaʸsetai ap' autaʸs.)

TC-GNT [fn]ἑνὸς δέ ἐστι χρεία· [fn]Μαρία [fn]δὲ τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο, ἥτις οὐκ ἀφαιρεθήσεται [fn]ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς.
(henos de esti ⱪreia; Maria de taʸn agathaʸn merida exelexato, haʸtis ouk afairethaʸsetai ap autaʸs. )

10:42 ενος δε εστι χρεια ¦ ολιγων δε εστι χρεια η ενος SBL WH

10:42 μαρια ¦ μαριαμ CT

10:42 δε ¦ γαρ CT

10:42 απ ¦ — CT

Key for above GNTs: orange:accents differ, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 10:38–42: Jesus visited Martha and Mary

Jesus and his disciples continued to travel from place to place. During their travels, Jesus went to the home of two sisters, Martha and Mary. Their brother was Lazarus. This short section shows how the two sisters considered different things to be important. It also tells what Jesus thought about those things.

Some other examples for section headings are:

Jesus’ Visit with Martha and Mary

At the Home of Martha and Mary (NIV)

This story occurs only in Luke.

10:42a

But only one thing is necessary.

But there is only one thing that is truly important/necessary.
People/You^(sing) only need one thing,

But only one thing is necessary: There is a textual issue here:

Some Greek texts say: “but only one thing is needed.” For example:
but only one thing is necessary (CEV) (BSB, NIV, GNT, RSV, NET, KJV, NASB, REB, GW, NLT, CEV, NCV)
Other Greek texts say: “but few things are needed, or only one.” For example:
and yet few are needed, indeed only one (NJB) (NJB, JBP)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with the majority of English versions.For more information, see Swanson, p. 199; TRT, p. 224; Blight 2007a, pp. 489–90; Marshall, p. 453; Greek NT UBS 4^th ed., p. 247; and Metzger, pp. 153–54.

But: In contrast with the “many things” that Martha was worried about in 10:41, 10:42a speaks about “only one thing” being necessary. The BSB indicates this contrast with the word But. Connect these two verses in a way that naturally shows this kind of contrast in your language.

only one thing is necessary: The Greek clause that the BSB translates as only one thing is necessary indicates that only one thing is truly important or necessary in a person’s life. Jesus did not specify here what that thing is. However, the context shows that he was referring to the same thing that Mary chose (10:42b). She chose to listen to what Jesus was teaching about God and his kingdom. Other ways to translate this clause are:

Only one thing is important. (NCV)

There is only one thing worth being concerned about. (NLT)

10:42b

Mary has chosen the good portion,

Mary has chosen to do that good/important thing,
and that is the good thing that Mary has decided to do.

Mary has chosen the good portion: The Greek clause that the BSB translates as Mary has chosen the good portion is more literally “Mary has chosen the good part.” This refers to the fact that Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from him. She chose to do this rather than to work hard at providing a nice big meal for him. Learning from Jesus was the more important thing. Other ways to translate this clause are:

Mary has chosen the right thing (GNT)

Mary has chosen what is best (CEV)

10:42c

and it will not be taken away from her.”

and that good/important thing will not be taken away from her.”
No one should/must make her stop doing it.”

and it will not be taken away from her: The Greek pronoun that the BSB translates as it refers to the good part that Mary had chosen. This good part was to listen to Jesus. That privilege should not be taken away from her.

In some languages it may be necessary to say who would not “take away” from Mary the good thing that she had chosen. Jesus probably meant that neither he nor Martha nor anyone else should take it away. He would not tell Mary to help in the kitchen, and he would not let Martha or anyone else force Mary to leave him. Some other ways to translate this are:

which will/must not be taken away from her by anyone (TRT)

no one should take it away from her

In some languages it will not be possible to translate this literally, because “listening to Jesus” is not an object that someone can actually take away from a person. In those languages it may be necessary to make the meaning more explicit. For example:

and no one should make her stop listening to me.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole

ἑνός δέ ἐστιν χρεία

˱of˲_one but (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἑνός δέ ἐστίν χρεία Μαρία γάρ τήν ἀγαθήν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο ἥτις οὐκ ἀφαιρεθήσεται ἀπʼ αὐτῆς)

Jesus says one thing as an overstatement for emphasis. Other things actually are necessary for life, but this is the most important one. Alternate translation: [but one thing is more important than all the others]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἑνός δέ ἐστιν χρεία

The implication is that this most important thing is what Jesus is teaching about God, and that Martha should have been concentrating on that. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [but one thing, what I am teaching about God, is more important than all the others, and you should have been concentrating on that]

Μαριὰμ & τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἑνός δέ ἐστίν χρεία Μαρία γάρ τήν ἀγαθήν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο ἥτις οὐκ ἀφαιρεθήσεται ἀπʼ αὐτῆς)

While Jesus spoke just earlier about “one thing” as opposed to “many things,” here he seems to contrast only two things, the good part with another part, perhaps not “the bad part,” but at least the part that is not to be preferred. This likely refers to the two activities that Mary and Martha have chosen to pursue while Jesus is present in their home. Alternate translation: [Mary has chosen the better activity]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

ἥτις οὐκ ἀφαιρεθήσεται ἀπ’ αὐτῆς

which not ˓will_be_being˒_taken_away from her

If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this with an active form, and you could state who would do the action. This could mean: (1) “I will not take that opportunity away from her.” (2) “God will not let her lose what she has gained from listening to me.”

Parallel LUKE 10:42

Section 10:38–42: Jesus visited Martha and Mary

10:42a

10:42b

10:42c