MAT 19:23 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=minor/spelling Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
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 Now Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you, a rich person will enter difficultly into the kingdom of the heavens.

UST After that, Jesus told his apprentices, “It is hard for rich people to participate in God’s heavenly kingdom. What I have said is true.

BLB And Jesus said His to disciples, "Truly I say to you that with difficulty a rich man will enter into the kingdom of the heavens.

AICNT But Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you that a rich person will enter the kingdom of the heavens with difficulty.

OEB At this, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you that a rich person will find it hard to enter the kingdom of heaven!

WEBBE Jesus said to his disciples, “Most certainly I say to you, a rich man will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with difficulty.

WMBB Yeshua said to his disciples, “Most certainly I say to you, a rich man will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with difficulty.

NET Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!

LSV and Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you that hardly will a rich man enter into the kingdom of the heavens;

FBV “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to his disciples, “rich people find it hard to enter the kingdom of heaven.

TCNT Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.

T4T Then Jesus said to us disciples, “Keep this in mind: It is very difficult for rich people to decide to let God [MTY/EUP] rule their lives.

LEB And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I say to you that with difficulty a rich person will enter into the kingdom of heaven!

BBE And Jesus said to his disciples, Truly I say to you, It is hard for a man with much money to go into the kingdom of heaven.

Moff And Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you truly, it will be difficult for a rich man to get into the Realm of heaven.

Wymth So Jesus said to His disciples, "I solemnly tell you that it is with difficulty that a rich man will enter the Kingdom of the Heavens.

ASV And Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

DRA Then Jesus said to his disciples: Amen, I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

YLT and Jesus said to his disciples, 'Verily I say to you, that hardly shall a rich man enter into the reign of the heavens;

Drby And Jesus said to his disciples, Verily I say unto you, A rich man shall with difficulty enter into the kingdom of the heavens;

RV And Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
(And Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily/Truly I say unto you, It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. )

SLT And Jesus said to his disciples, Truly I say to you, That with difficulty shall a rich one come into the kingdom of the heavens.

Wbstr Then said Jesus to his disciples, Verily I say to you, that a rich man shall with difficulty enter into the kingdom of heaven.

KJB-1769 ¶ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
(¶ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily/Truly I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. )

KJB-1611 ¶ Then said Iesus vnto his disciples, Uerely I say vnto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdome of heauen.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation)

Bshps Then Iesus sayde vnto his disciples: Ueryly I say vnto you, that a riche man shall hardly enter into the kyngdome of heauen.
(Then Yesus/Yeshua said unto his disciples: Verily/Truly I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.)

Gnva Then Iesus sayd vnto his disciples, Verely I say vnto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdome of heauen.
(Then Yesus/Yeshua said unto his disciples, Verily/Truly I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. )

Cvdl Iesus sayde vnto his disciples: Verely I saie vnto you: it shalbe harde for a rich man to entre in to the kyngdome of heaue.
(Yesus/Yeshua said unto his disciples: Verily/Truly I say unto you: it shall be hard for a rich man to enter in to the kingdom of heaven.)

TNT Then Iesus sayde vnto his disciples: Verely I saye vnto you: that is harde for a ryche man to enter into the kyngdome of heaven.
(Then Yesus/Yeshua said unto his disciples: Verily/Truly I say unto you: that is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. )

Wycl And Jhesus seide to hise disciplis, Y seie to you treuthe, for a riche man of hard schal entre in to the kyngdom of heuenes.
(And Yhesus said to his disciples, I say to you truth, for a rich man of hard shall enter in to the kingdom of heavens.)

Luth JEsus aber sprach zu seinen Jüngern: Wahrlich, ich sage euch, ein Reicher wird schwerlich ins Himmelreich kommen.
(Yesus but spoke to/for his disciples: Truly, I said you, a rich_(person) becomes hardly into_the heaven_riches/kingdom coming.)

ClVg Jesus autem dixit discipulis suis: Amen dico vobis, quia dives difficile intrabit in regnum cælorum.[fn]
(Yesus however he/she_said students to_his_own: Amen I_mean/say to_you(pl), because dives difficult will_enter in/into/on kingdom of_the_heavens. )

19.23 Dives difficile. Divites non manentes, sed qui esse desierunt intrabunt. De omnibus tutius est, nec habere nec amare divitias.

19.23 Dives difficult. Divites not/no manentes, but who/which to_be desierunt they_will_enter. From/About to_all tutius it_is, but_not to_have but_not to_love riches.

UGNT ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, ἀμὴν, λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅτι πλούσιος δυσκόλως εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν Βασιλείαν τῶν Οὐρανῶν.
(ho de Yaʸsous eipen tois mathaʸtais autou, amaʸn, legō humin, hoti plousios duskolōs eiseleusetai eis taʸn Basileian tōn Ouranōn.)

SBL-GNT Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ⸂πλούσιος δυσκόλως⸃ εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν·
(Ho de Yaʸsous eipen tois mathaʸtais autou; Amaʸn legō humin hoti ⸂plousios duskolōs⸃ eiseleusetai eis taʸn basileian tōn ouranōn;)

RP-GNT Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι δυσκόλως πλούσιος εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.
(Ho de Yaʸsous eipen tois mathaʸtais autou, Amaʸn legō humin hoti duskolōs plousios eiseleusetai eis taʸn basileian tōn ouranōn.)

TC-GNT Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπε τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι [fn]δυσκόλως πλούσιος εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.
(Ho de Yaʸsous eipe tois mathaʸtais autou, Amaʸn legō humin hoti duskolōs plousios eiseleusetai eis taʸn basileian tōn ouranōn. )

19:23 δυσκολως πλουσιος ¦ πλουσιος δυσκολως CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 19:16–30: Jesus taught about entering the kingdom of heaven

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.

19:23a

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you,

¶ Then Jesus told his disciples, “I assure you^(plur) that
¶ Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “Listen to this:

Then Jesus said to His disciples: Verse 19:23 begins a new paragraph. In this paragraph, Jesus stopped talking with the young man. He started talking with his disciples. To show this change, many English versions, including the BSB, begin this paragraph with the word Then.

Truly I tell you: Jesus often used these words to introduce a statement that he wanted to emphasize. When he began a statement with these words, he was asking people to listen with extra attention.

Here are some other ways to translate these words:

I assure you that

Listen to this:

Let me tell you this:

If you have another way in your language to emphasize a statement or to alert people to listen with special attention, consider using it here. See how you translated this clause in 18:13a.

19:23b

it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

it is difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.
it is hard for rich people to become citizens/members of the kingdom of the one who lives in heaven.

it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven: The Greek word that the BSB translates as it is hard can also be translated as “with difficulty.” For example:

only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven (NIV)

rich man: The word man is general and refers to people, both men and women.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

rich person (ESV)

someone who is rich (NIV)

In Greek, the term rich man is singular. And the verb to enter is future. However, this clause is a general principle. So, in some languages, it will be more natural make the term rich man plural and/or to use a present tense verb. For example:

it will be very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of heaven (GNT)

It’s terribly hard for rich people to get into the kingdom of heaven! (CEV)

To enter into the kingdom of heaven is very hard for rich people

to enter the kingdom of heaven: In this context, the phrase to enter refers to “become a citizen of.” When people believe in Jesus, they become citizens/members of the kingdom of heaven.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

become a citizen of the kingdom of heaven

become one of those who are in the kingdom of the one who lives in heaven

be added to the people over whom God rules

This same expression occurs in 5:20b and 18:3c. You should translate it the same way in all these places.

See how you translated the phrase kingdom of heaven in 19:12c and 19:14c. See also kingdom of heaven in KBT 1 (d) for more information.

Parallel MAT 19:23

Section 19:16–30: Jesus taught about entering the kingdom of heaven

19:23a

19:23b