Jesus, seeing that he became very sad, said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!
Parallel Translations
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Jesus, seeing that he became very sad, said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!
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When Iesus sawe him morne he sayde: with what difficulte shall they that have ryches enter into the kyngdome of God:
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And when Iesus sawe him very sorowfull, he said, With what difficultie shall they that haue riches, enter into the kingdome of God!
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Luke 18:24 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 11:28 He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf.
- Proverbs 30:9 lest I be full, deny you, and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
- Mark 10:23-27 Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter into God’s Kingdom! It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.” They were exceedingly astonished, saying to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.”
- James 2:5-7 Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts? Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?
- Psalms 10:3 For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings. He blesses the greedy and condemns Yahweh.
- Matthew 19:23-25 Jesus said to his disciples, “Most certainly I say to you, a rich man will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with difficulty. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.” When the disciples heard it, they were exceedingly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
- Deuteronomy 6:10-12 It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities which you didn’t build, and houses full of all good things which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full; then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
- Deuteronomy 8:11-17 Beware lest you forget Yahweh your God, in not keeping his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you today; lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses and lived in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who poured water for you out of the rock of flint; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know, that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end; and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.”
- Psalms 73:5-12 They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit. They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression. They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth. Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance. They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Behold, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches.
- Proverbs 18:11 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.
- Jeremiah 2:31 Generation, consider Yahweh’s word. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We have broken loose. We will come to you no more?’
- Jeremiah 5:5 I will go to the great men and will speak to them, for they know the way of Yahweh, and the law of their God.” But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
- Mark 6:26 The king was exceedingly sorry, but for the sake of his oaths, and of his dinner guests, he didn’t wish to refuse her.
- 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he might put to shame the things that are strong.
- 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 I now rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved to repentance. For you were grieved in a godly way, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death.
- 1 Timothy 6:9-10 But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
- James 5:1-6 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Armies. You have lived in luxury on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and you have murdered the righteous one. He doesn’t resist you.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain To be both rich and godly, is a singular…
To be both rich and godly, is a singular gift of God.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 24 And when Jesus saw that he was very…
24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
Ver. 24. See Mat 19:23.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Our holy Lord takes occasion from the rich man’s…
Our holy Lord takes occasion from the rich man’s departure from him, to discourse concerning the danger of riches, and the difficulties that attend rich men in their way to heaven.
From whence we may collect and gather,
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1. That rich men do certainly meet with more difficulties in their way to heaven than other men; it is difficult to withdraw their affections from riches, to place their supreme love upon God in the midst of their riches, and to depend entirely upon God in a rich condition; for the rich man’s wealth is his strong tower.
2. That yet the fault lies not in riches, but in rich men, who by placing their trust and reposing their confidence in riches, do render their salvation difficult, if not impossible.
3. Our Saviour’s proverbial speech of a camels going through the eye of a needle implies thus much, that it is not only a great difficulty, but an utter impossibility, for such as abound in worldly wealth, and place their confidence therein, to be saved, without an extraordinary grace and assistance from God. It is hard for God to make a rich man happy, because he thinks himself happy without God.
4. That as difficult and impossible as this may seem to men, yet nothing is impossible with God; he can change the heart of the rich, by the rich and powerful influences of his Holy Spirit: That which is impossible with men is possible with God.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful,....…
And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful,.... As he might, by his looks and gestures; and perceived that he was determined not to part with his possessions, and follow him:
he said to his disciples, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! embrace the Gospel, and submit to the ordinances of it; deny themselves, part with their worldly substance for the cause of Christ, and interest of religion. Riches, which should be a reason for, are often a bar unto a profession of Christ, and his Gospel. This is delivered as an affirmation, or by way of assertion; see Gill on Mat 19:23.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 24. How hardly shall they that have riches,…
Verse 24. How hardly shall they that have riches, &c.] See the notes on this discourse of our Lord, on Mt 19:21-30, and Mr 10:30.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain when Jesus saw--Mark says (Mar 3:34), He "looked round…
when Jesus saw--Mark says (Mar 3:34), He "looked round about"--as if first following the departing youth with His eye--"and saith unto His disciples."
How hardly, &c.--with what difficulty. In Mark (Mar 10:24) an explanation is added, "How hard is it for them that trust in riches," &c.--that is, with what difficulty is this idolatrous trust conquered, without which they cannot enter; and this is introduced by the word "children"--sweet diminutive of affection and pity (Joh 21:5).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 24. saw that he was very sorrowful] Several good…
24. saw that he was very sorrowful] Several good uncials read merely ‘when Jesus saw him.’
shall they that have riches] Rather, do they. The striking reading of some MSS. (א, B, &c.) in Mar_10:24, is that Christ, seeing the pained astonishment of the disciples, said, “Children! how hard it is to enter into the kingdom of God”—hard for all; above all, hard for the rich. Other MSS. have “for those that trust in riches’’(comp. Pro_11:28)—but that would be a truism; and, indeed, while they trust in riches, it would be not only hard, but impossible. The point that Jesus wished to teach was that riches are always a temptation and a snare. 1Ti_6:9-10. Let us not forget that Judas heard these words only a few days or weeks before he sold his Lord. It was almost a proverb among the ancients that “the very rich are not good.” Stobaeus, xciii. 27.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (24-27) When Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful.—See…
(24-27) When Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful.—See Notes on Mat_19:23-26; Mar_10:23-27. The better MSS. give simply, “When Jesus saw him, He said . . .”
How hardly shall they that have riches . . .—Another verbal agreement with St. Mark.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful,…
And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! The temptations which beset a rich man are so many and so various. The poor, indeed, with all their trials, stand fairer for the kingdom than do their envied richer brothers and sisters.
Wealth and piety.
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Wherein lies the difficulty of a rich man entering the kingdom? This young ruler shrank from parting with his property, but Jesus Christ does not ordinarily ask men of wealth to "sell all that they have and give to the poor." His difficulty, therefore, is not the common one.
1. It is not that the rich man is not as welcome to the friendship of Christ as the poor man. He does not make distinctions in his invitation, or in his desire that men should come to him. In him in whom is neither male nor female, bond nor free, there is neither rich nor poor. The poor as much as the rich, and also the rich as much as the poor, are the objects of his love and of his seeking. The Lord of our nature regards us, and concerns himself for us, not on account of our circumstances, but because he knows the value of our souls.
2. Not because the rich man cannot illustrate the distinctive graces of Christianity. The sale and distribution of property in apostolic times was an expedient which was adopted for the occasion; but it was not insisted upon as necessary even then, (Act_5:4) and it was very soon abandoned. Paul, writing to Timothy, wrote on the supposition that the Christian Church included many wealthy men. (1Ti 6) Every age and every country has witnessed the lives of wealthy Christian men, who have illustrated every grace that the great Teacher has commended. It is clear that a rich man map be as humble, as generous, as temperate, as pure, as devout, as any poor man can be; and he sometimes is so. The explanation of our Lord"s language is found in the fact that riches are apt to put a serious obstacle in the way of entrance into the kingdom. If we would find our way into that holy and blessed kingdom, it is necessary that we should have a sense of our personal emptiness and need. We come to Christ to be filled with his fulness, to be enriched by his grace and love. He is a Physician, and it is they who feel that they are sick that are likely to apply for his healing power. He is the Divine Source of all wealth and enrichment, (Rev_3:18) and they must know themselves to be poor who come to buy of him gold that they may become rich. Hence the difficulty. It is for this reason that
I A MAN WHOSE MIND IS FULL OF KNOWLEDGE finds it hard to receive distinctive Christian truth. He is rich, as compared with his fellows, in the acquisition of knowledge. He is proud of this possession of his, and is bent on making the most of it. Jesus Christ comes to him, and says that he must lay aside his own views and notions, and sit at his feet and receive the truth he brings to him from God. Then the "rich" man has to sacrifice his favourite theories, has to make nothing of his learning, that he may admit to his mind the wisdom that is from above; and he finds it very "hard" to do this.
II A MAN WHO IS CLOTHED WITH HONOUR finds it hard to take a very humble view of himself. For honour is an order of wealth, and one that is highly prized. But the natural and common effect of it is to lead those who are the objects of it to form a flattering view of themselves; it is hard to get them to believe that in God"s sight they may be as sinful as those held in very much less regard by their fellow-men. But the ground on which human souls must come to Christ is that of humility. "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
III A MAN WHOSE CHAMBERS ARE FULL OF TREASURE is tempted to seek his satisfaction in the lower good. We have to make our choice, as Divine truth is presented to us, whether we will live for the service of Christ or for our own personal enjoyment and aggrandizement. To the poor, to the afflicted, to the suffering, to those who know they have not long to live, the temptation to live for this present world is not so strong; on their ear the overtures of the gospel of grace fall as that very thing they need for theft comfort and their peace; they have little to surrender, they have much to gain. But to those to whom every avenue of enjoyment is open; to those who may look hopefully, perhaps confidently, for place, for power, for society, for pleasure, for honour, the inducement is very strong and urgent to cast in their lot with those "whose portion is in this life." Many voices very close to their ear, very clear and convincing, call for their strength to be given to the material rather than the spiritual, to the temporal rather than the eternal, to the human rather than the Divine; and it is "hard" for them to resist and to overcome.
1. Let poverty find its ample consolation in the accessibility of the riches that always satisfy and never flee.
2. Let those who know neither poverty nor riches thank God for the happy mean in which his providence has placed them not subjecting them to the temptations of either.
3. Let wealth beware lest it make a sad, a supreme, mistake; lest, in the great spiritual strife, it"Clutch the tinsel gilding, and let go the crown of life. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The lesson of the incident:
The lesson of the incident:
v. 24. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, He said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
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v. 25. For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
v. 26. And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?
v. 27. And He said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
The young ruler had gotten more than he bargained for; he went away from Jesus, and it is very doubtful whether he ever returned. Jesus determined to teach His disciples and others that were near a lesson drawn from the incident. He told them in the form of an exclamation: How difficult, how next to impossible, it is for those that have goods, that are rich, to enter into the kingdom of God! See Mat 19:23-30; Mar 10:23-31. A person that is rich, actually calls the goods that are entrusted to him his own, and thus puts his trust in them, instead of in God alone, who has laid this responsibility upon him, is a servant of mammon, and cannot get to heaven. The difficulty is well illustrated by a proverb after the Oriental fashion, according to which it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man of that kind to enter into the kingdom of heaven. "For the rich people commonly become so entangled in the love and in the lust of riches that they cannot seek Jesus; yea, they do not desire to see Him: All their consolation is centered in money and goods; the more they get, the greater their desire, grows to possess still more. " But the saying of Jesus was too much for the spiritual understanding of the disciples and other hearers. In astonishment and perplexity they ask: And who can be saved? But Jesus gave them the solution by saying: The impossible with men is possible with God. It is true in general that God’s almighty power is not limited. And it is true, with special reference to conversion, that it is by the merciful power of God that sinful people are converted and renewed, that their hearts are torn loose from the love of this world and its riches and turned to His service all alone.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 How difficult it is ... kingdom of God!
How difficult it is ... kingdom of God!
This is an exclamation, and not a question. AT: "It is so very hard ... kingdom of God!" (See: Exclamations)
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a camel to go through a needle's eye
It is impossible for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle. Jesus was probably using hyperbole to mean it is extremely difficult for a rich man to enter God's kingdom. (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
needle's eye
The needle's eye is the hole in a sewing needle through which the thread is passed.
translationWords
kingdom of God
camel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 18:24-25 How hard it is for the rich to…
18:24-25 How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! Though Scripture sometimes speaks of riches as a blessing from God (2 Chr 1:11-12; Pss 112:3; 128:2; Prov 8:18; Isa 61:6), many passages warn against the danger of trusting riches instead of God (Ps 62:10; Prov 11:28; Jer 9:23-24; 49:4-5). • the eye of a needle: See study note on Mark 10:25. This is not merely difficult, but impossible. No one can be saved while trusting in riches. Salvation comes only by dependence on God (Luke 18:27).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.