Luke 18:1
Ἔλεγεν δὲ παραβολὴν αὐτοῖς πρὸς τὸ δεῖν πάντοτε προσεύχεσθαι αὐτοὺς καὶ μὴ ἐνκακεῖν,
And He spoke a parable to them in order that they might always pray and not to faint,
Luke 18:2
λέγων, Κριτής τις ἦν ἔν τινι πόλει, τὸν Θεὸν μὴ φοβούμενος καὶ ἄνθρωπον μὴ ἐντρεπόμενος.
saying, “A certain judge was in a certain city who was not fearing God and not respecting man.
Luke 18:3
χήρα δὲ ἦν ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐκείνῃ, καὶ ἤρχετο πρὸς αὐτὸν, λέγουσα, Ἐκδίκησόν με ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀντιδίκου μου.
Luke 18:4
Καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν ἐπὶ χρόνον· μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ εἶπεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, Εἰ καὶ τὸν Θεὸν οὐ φοβοῦμαι, οὐδὲ ἄνθρωπον ἐντρέπομαι,
Luke 18:5
διά γε τὸ παρέχειν μοι κόπον τὴν χήραν ταύτην, ἐκδικήσω αὐτήν, ἵνα μὴ εἰς τέλος ἐρχομένη, ὑπωπιάζῃ με.
Luke 18:6
Εἶπεν δὲ ὁ Κύριος, Ἀκούσατε τί ὁ κριτὴς τῆς ἀδικίας λέγει.
Luke 18:7
ὁ δὲ Θεὸς οὐ μὴ ποιήσῃ τὴν ἐκδίκησιν τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν αὐτοῦ, τῶν βοώντων αὐτῷ ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός, καὶ μακροθυμεῖ ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς;
Luke 18:8
λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ποιήσει τὴν ἐκδίκησιν αὐτῶν ἐν τάχει. πλὴν, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐλθὼν, ἆρα εὑρήσει τὴν πίστιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς;
Luke 18:9
Εἶπεν δὲ καὶ πρός τινας τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῖς ὅτι εἰσὶν δίκαιοι, καὶ ἐξουθενοῦντας τοὺς λοιποὺς, τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην·
Luke 18:10
Ἄνθρωποι δύο ἀνέβησαν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν προσεύξασθαι, ὁ εἷς Φαρισαῖος, καὶ ὁ ἕτερος τελώνης.
Luke 18:11
ὁ Φαρισαῖος, σταθεὶς, ταῦτα «πρὸς ἑαυτὸν» προσηύχετο, Ὁ Θεός, εὐχαριστῶ σοι ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ ὥσπερ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων— ἅρπαγες, ἄδικοι, μοιχοί— ἢ καὶ ὡς οὗτος ὁ τελώνης.
Luke 18:12
νηστεύω δὶς τοῦ σαββάτου· ἀποδεκατῶ πάντα, ὅσα κτῶμαι.
Luke 18:13
Ὁ δὲ τελώνης, μακρόθεν ἑστὼς, οὐκ ἤθελεν οὐδὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐπᾶραι εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, ἀλλ’ ἔτυπτεν τὸ στῆθος αὐτοῦ, λέγων Ὁ, Θεός, ἱλάσθητί μοι, τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ!
Luke 18:14
λέγω ὑμῖν, κατέβη οὗτος δεδικαιωμένος εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ, παρ’ ἐκεῖνον. ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὑψῶν ἑαυτὸν ταπεινωθήσεται· ὁ δὲ ταπεινῶν ἑαυτὸν ὑψωθήσεται.
Luke 18:15
Προσέφερον δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ βρέφη, ἵνα αὐτῶν ἅπτηται· ἰδόντες δὲ, οἱ μαθηταὶ ἐπετίμων αὐτοῖς.
Luke 18:16 Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς, προσεκαλέσατο αὐτὰ, λέγων, Ἄφετε τὰ παιδία ἔρχεσθαι πρός με, καὶ μὴ κωλύετε αὐτά· τῶν γὰρ τοιούτων ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ.
Luke 18:17
ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὃς ἂν μὴ δέξηται τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ὡς παιδίον, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθῃ εἰς αὐτήν.
Luke 18:18
Καὶ ἐπηρώτησέν τις αὐτὸν ἄρχων, λέγων, Διδάσκαλε ἀγαθέ, τί ποιήσας, ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω;
and a certain man, a ruler, asked him, saying “Good teacher; by doing what shall I inherit eternal life?
Paraphrase:
Comments:
An adjectival use of the indefinite pronoun τις (GGBB p347). τις ἄρχων Then τί ποιήσας is a substantival use of the same. In this clause, τι is the object of the participle ποιήσας.
Διδάσκαλε ἀγαθέ = vocative
An instrumental use of the participle ποιήσας – by doing what might I inherit eternal life?
Is the man asking how he might increase his reward in the eternal state or is he asking how he might be sure to enter it?
Luke 18:19
Εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς, εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ Θεός.
and Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one good except One, God.
Paraphrase:
Comments:
A semi-colon in Greek is a question mark as here on αγαθον.
This is an unusual way of referring to any teacher. “There are no examples from the first century or earlier of anyone being called “good teacher,” as we have here.” Evans, The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary, 358.
εἰ μή is a DMW and marks an exception; see here.
Luke 18:20
τὰς ἐντολὰς οἶδας· Μὴ μοιχεύσῃς, Μὴ φονεύσῃς, Μὴ κλέψῃς, Μὴ ψευδομαρτυρήσῃς, Τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα.
the commandments you know; do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.
Paraphrased: But certainly you know the commands which God has given to His people to obey. The command against adultery, murder, theft, bearing false witness, honoring your parents. If you keep all these commands, then you have nothing to fear. Isn’t that what God teaches us in Deut. 6:24-25: “And Jehovah commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day. And it shall be righteousness unto us, if we observe to do all this commandment before Jehovah our God, as he hath commanded us.
Comments:
μοιχεύσῃς, φονεύσῃς, κλέψῃς, and ψευδομαρτυρήσῃς are all prohibitive subjunctives (GGBB 469).
The question is this; does Jesus really intend for this man to keep these commands in order for him to enter eternal life? or is Jesus giving this command simply to cut down this young man’s self-righteous attitude and expose his true sinfulness? Luke 18:9 tells us that Jesus has self-righteous people in His sights at least with the parable of the publican and probably the story of the infants can also be understood in this way as well as this story of the rich, young ruler. The paraphrases of Clarke and Hammond both take this in the former sense; i.e. that Jesus is trying to teach the young man the cost of discipleship and thus gives a unique command which touches the man in that area of his life which he is most unwilling to surrender. Barnes takes the latter position:
“Jesus said this, doubtless, to try him, and to convince him that he had by no means kept the commandments; and that in supposing he had, he was altogether deceived. The young man thought he had kept them, and was relying on them for salvation. It was of great importance, therefore, to convince him that he was, after all, a sinner. Christ did not mean to say that any man would be saved by the works of the law, for the Bible teaches plainly that such will not be the case (Rom 3:20; Rom 3:28; Rom 4:6; Eph 2:9; 2Tim 1:9). At the same time, however, it is true that if a man perfectly complied with the requirements of the law, he would be saved for there would be no reason why he should be condemned. Jesus, therefore, since he saw he was depending on his works, told him that if he would enter life he must keep the commandments; if he was depending on them, he must keep them perfectly; and if this was done, he would be saved. The reasons why Christ gave him this direction were, probably, 1st Because it was his duty to keep them. 2nd Because the young man depended on them, and he ought to understand what was required if he did–that they should be kept perfectly, or that they were not kept at all. 3rd Because he wanted to test him, to show him that he did not keep them, and thus to show him his need of a Savior.” source
Luke 18:21
Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν, Ταῦτα πάντα ἐφύλαξα ἐκ νεότητος μου.
But he said, “All these commandments I have observed from my youth.”
Paraphrased: The young man answered, “I know all these commands, and I have carefully observed every one of them from my very youngest days. For all that, however, I still feel like something is missing. I still question whether I am really going to enter eternal life. Is there something else I can do to really be perfect and thus fully assured that I will not miss what I so earnestly desire to have?”
Comments:
Here certainly is this man’s delusion and a real example of self-righteousness. In light of this, we wonder why he was even questioning his entering into eternal life. If he was keeping God’s commands and had been doing so since his youth, then what possible reason could there be for him missing it?
Luke 18:22
Ἀκούσας δὲ, ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ, Ἔτι ἕν σοι λείπει· πάντα, ὅσα ἔχεις, πώλησον, καὶ διάδος πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· καὶ δεῦρο, ἀκολούθει μοι.
Now upon hearing this word, the young man departed, being grieved, for he was one having great property.
Paraphrased: Now when this young man came to understand that in order to reach perfection and thus to have any hope of entering into eternal life, he had to sell off all his property, he was quite grieved. He couldn’t bear the thought of parting with all his possessions which he had worked so hard to accumulate and which occupied such a large place in his heart.
Comments:
ἀκούσας is an anarthrous participle. Adjectivally, it is modifying νεανίσκος; it’s adverbial nuance is one of time. It’s odd to see the object of this participle λογον placed after the subject of the following clause. λυπούμενος is also anarthrous but does not appear to have any additional adverbial nuance.
Anaphoric use of the article in τὸν λόγον, and hence, the translation “…this word…”
Luke 18:23
Ὁ δὲ ἀκούσας ταῦτα, περίλυπος ἐγενήθη· ἦν γὰρ πλούσιος σφόδρα.
Luke 18:24
Ἰδὼν δὲ αὐτὸν, ὁ Ἰησοῦς [περίλυπον γενόμενον] εἶπεν, Πῶς δυσκόλως οἱ τὰ χρήματα ἔχοντες, εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσπορεύονται.
Luke 18:25
εὐκοπώτερον γάρ ἐστιν κάμηλον διὰ τρήματος βελόνης εἰσελθεῖν, ἢ πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν.
Luke 18:26 Εἶπαν δὲ οἱ ἀκούσαντες, Καὶ τίς δύναται σωθῆναι;
Luke 18:27 Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν, Τὰ ἀδύνατα παρὰ ἀνθρώποις, δυνατὰ παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ ἐστιν.
Luke 18:28 Εἶπεν δὲ ὁ Πέτρος, Ἰδοὺ, ἡμεῖς ἀφέντες τὰ ἴδια, ἠκολουθήσαμέν σοι.
Luke 18:29 Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐδείς ἐστιν ὃς ἀφῆκεν οἰκίαν ἢ γυναῖκα ἢ ἀδελφοὺς ἢ γονεῖς ἢ τέκνα ἕνεκεν τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Θεοῦ,
Luke 18:30 ὃς οὐχὶ μὴ ἀπολάβῃ* πολλαπλασίονα ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τούτῳ— καὶ ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ ἐρχομένῳ, ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
Luke 18:31 Παραλαβὼν δὲ τοὺς δώδεκα, εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς, Ἰδοὺ, ἀναβαίνομεν εἰς Ἰερουσαλήμ, καὶ τελεσθήσεται πάντα τὰ γεγραμμένα διὰ τῶν προφητῶν τῷ Υἱῷ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.
Luke 18:32 παραδοθήσεται γὰρ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, καὶ ἐμπαιχθήσεται, καὶ ὑβρισθήσεται, καὶ ἐμπτυσθήσεται.
Luke 18:33 καὶ μαστιγώσαντες, ἀποκτενοῦσιν αὐτόν· καὶ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ ἀναστήσεται.
Luke 18:34 Καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐδὲν τούτων συνῆκαν· καὶ ἦν τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο κεκρυμμένον ἀπ’ αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἐγίνωσκον τὰ λεγόμενα.
Luke 18:35 Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν τῷ ἐγγίζειν αὐτὸν εἰς Ἰεριχὼ, τυφλός τις ἐκάθητο παρὰ τὴν ὁδὸν, ἐπαιτῶν.
Luke 18:36 ἀκούσας δὲ ὄχλου διαπορευομένου, ἐπυνθάνετο τί εἴη τοῦτο.
Luke 18:37 Ἀπήγγειλαν δὲ αὐτῷ ὅτι, Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος παρέρχεται.
Luke 18:38 Καὶ ἐβόησεν λέγων, Ἰησοῦ, υἱὲ Δαυίδ, ἐλέησόν με.
Luke 18:39 Καὶ οἱ προάγοντες ἐπετίμων αὐτῷ, ἵνα σιγήσῃ. αὐτὸς δὲ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἔκραζεν, Υἱὲ Δαυίδ, ἐλέησόν με.
Luke 18:40 Σταθεὶς δὲ, ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν ἀχθῆναι πρὸς αὐτόν. ἐγγίσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ, ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτόν,
Luke 18:41 Τί σοι θέλεις ποιήσω; Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν, Κύριε, ἵνα ἀναβλέψω.
Luke 18:42 Καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ, Ἀνάβλεψον! ἡ πίστις σου σέσωκέν σε.
Luke 18:43 καὶ παραχρῆμα ἀνέβλεψεν καὶ ἠκολούθει αὐτῷ, δοξάζων τὸν Θεόν. καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς, ἰδὼν, ἔδωκεν αἶνον τῷ Θεῷ.