Mark 10:24-31

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Mark 10:24 tn Grk “But answering, Jesus again said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokritheis) is redundant and has not been translated.
2. Mark 10:24 tc Most mss (A C D Θ ƒ^1,13 28 565 M lat sy) have here “for those who trust in riches” (τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐπὶ [τοῖς] χρήμασιν, tous pepoithotas epi [tois] chrēmasin); 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.
3. Mark 10:25 tc A few witnesses (ƒ¹³ 28 579) read κάμιλον (kamilon, “rope”) for κάμηλον (kamēlon, “camel”), either through accidental misreading of the text or intentionally so as to soften Jesus’ words.
4. Mark 10:25 sn The referent of the eye of a needle is a sewing needle. (Although the story of a small gate in Jerusalem known as “The Needle’s Eye” has been widely circulated and may go back as far as the middle ages, there is no evidence that such a gate ever existed.) Jesus was speaking rhetorically to point out that apart from God’s intervention, salvation is impossible (v. 27).
5. Mark 10:26 tn Grk “But they were even more astonished, saying.” The participle λέγονες (legontes) has been translated here as a finite verb to emphasize the sequence of events: The disciples were astonished, then they spoke.
6. Mark 10:26 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of thought.
7. Mark 10:26 sn The assumption is that the rich are blessed, so if they risk exclusion, who is left to be saved?
8. Mark 10:27 tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποις (anthrōpois) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NASB 1995 update, “people”). Because of the contrast here between mere mortals and God (“impossible for men…all things are possible for God”) the phrase “mere humans” has been used in the translation.
9. Mark 10:28 sn Peter wants reassurance that the disciples’ response and sacrifice has been noticed.
10. Mark 10:28 tn Grk “We have left everything and followed you.” Koine Greek often used paratactic structure when hypotactic was implied.
11. Mark 10:29 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
12. Mark 10:30 tn Grk “this time” (καιρός, kairos), but for stylistic reasons this has been translated “this age” here.
13. Mark 10:30 tn Grk “with persecutions.” The “all” has been supplied to clarify that the prepositional phrase belongs not just to the “fields.”
14. Mark 10:30 sn Note that Mark (see also Matt 19:29; Luke 10:25; 18:30) portrays eternal life as something one receives in the age to come, unlike John, who emphasizes the possibility of receiving eternal life in the present (John 5:24).