Matthew 19:25
in Matthew 19When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when the disciples heard it, they were astonished exceedingly, saying, Who then can be saved?
KJV
When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
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This verse in Matthew 19
Commentary
13 notes on this verseAccording to this, no rich man can be saved. But if we read Isaiah, how the camels of Midian and Ephah came to Jerusalem with gifts and presents, and they who once were crooked and bowed down by the weight of their sins, enter the gates of Jerusalem, we shall see how these camels, to which the rich are likened when they have laid aside the heavy load of sins, and the distortion of their whole bodies, may then enter by that narrow and strait way that leads to life.
This site's exposition
exceedingly amazed
on Matthew 19:25-26
Who then can be saved captures the disciples' exceeding amazement, since wealth was widely read in their culture as a mark of God's own favor, so if the rich could hardly be saved the case seemed hopeless for everyone. With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible answers the young ruler's whole encounter, the bench reading it as the chapter's real center: no man, rich or poor, earns eternal life by his own doing, and what the law could only expose, grace alone supplies. The saying reaches back to Genesis 18:14's nothing too hard for the Lord and forward to the whole New Testament's teaching on salvation by grace rather than works.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(Verse 24 and following) And again I say to you: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, 'Who then can be saved?' But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.' This statement shows that it is not difficult, but impossible. For if a camel cannot enter through the eye of a needle, so a rich person cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, no rich person will be saved. But if we read Isaiah, how the camels of Midian and Ephah come to Jerusalem with gifts and offerings (Isa. 60): and how those who were previously bent and distorted by the corruption of vices enter the gates of Jerusalem, we will see how even these camels, to whom the rich are compared, when they have unloaded the heavy burden of sins and the corruption of the whole body, are able to enter through the narrow gate and the narrow way that leads to life (Above 7). But when the disciples asked and were amazed at the severity of his words, he tempered the severity of his statement with his mercy, saying: What is impossible for men is possible for God.
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 63 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
And wherefore are the disciples troubled, being poor, yea, exceedingly poor? Wherefore then are they confounded? Being in pain about the salvation of the rest, and having a great affection for all, and having already taken upon themselves the tender bowels of teachers. They were at least in such trembling and fear for the whole world from this declaration, as to need much comfort.
(Quaest. Ev. 1, 26.) Whereas the rich are few in comparison of the multitude of the poor, we must suppose that the disciples understood all who wish for riches, as included in the number of the rich.
The Medieval Church2 voices
And when they had heard these things, the disciples wondered very much, saying: who then can be saved? Above the Lord assigned the reason for his doctrine; here he responds to the astonishment of the disciples. And first the astonishment is presented; secondly the satisfaction, …
When His disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible: but with God all things are possible. The disciples, being compassionate, did not ask this question for …
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
His disciples were amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? - If rich men, with all their advantages, cannot? A poor man; a peasant; a beggar: ten thousand of them, sooner than one that is rich.
When his disciples heard it..... That is, the difficulty of a rich man's entering into the kingdom of heaven, aggravated by the above proverbial expression, they were exceedingly amazed.
Christ did not take his leave of Galilee till he had done his work there, and then he departed thence. Note, As Christ's faithful ministers are not taken out of the world, so they are not removed from any place, till they have finished their testimony in that place, Rev. xi.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Who can be saved? - The question of the disciples seemed to intimate that most people were rich, and that therefore scarcely any could be saved. They certainly must have attached a different meaning to what constitutes a rich man, to what we in general do. Who is a rich man in our Lord’s sense of the word? This is a very important question, and has not, that I know of, been explicitly answered.
The first thing that we learn in these verses is the immense danger which riches bring on the souls of those who possess them. The Lord Jesus declares that “a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven.” He goes even further. He uses a proverbial saying to strengthen his assertion: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” Few of our Lord’s sayings sound more startling than this; few run more counter to the opinions and prejudices of mankind; few are so little believed; yet this saying is true, and worthy of all acceptation. Riches, which all desire to obtain—riches, for which men labor and toil and become gray before their time—riches are the most perilous possession. They often inflict great injury on the soul; they lead men into many temptations; they engross men’s thoughts and affections; they bind heavy burdens on the heart, and make the way to heaven even more difficult than it naturally is. Let us beware of the love of money. It is possible to use it well, and do good with it; but for one who makes a right use of money, there are thousands who make a wrong use of it, and do harm both to themselves and others. Let the worldly man, if he will, make an idol of money, and count him happiest who has most of it. But let theChristian, who professes to have “treasure in heaven” set his face, like a flint, against the spirit of the world in this matter. Let him not worship gold. He is not the best man in God’s eyes who has most money, but he who has most grace. Let us pray daily for rich men’s souls. They are not to be envied, they are deeply to be pitied. They carry heavy weights in the Christian course; they are of all men the least likely so to run as to obtain.( 1 Corinthians 9:24 ). Their prosperity in this world is often their destruction in the world to come.
The first thing that we learn in these verses is the immense danger which riches bring on the souls of those who possess them. The Lord Jesus declares that “a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven.” He goes even further.
The words behind it
11 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἀκούσαντες | akousantes | Having heard | G191 → | 425 times |
| δὲ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| μαθηταὶ | mathetai | disciples | G3101 → | 260 times |
| ἐξεπλήσσοντο | exeplessonto | were astonished | G1605 → | 13 times |
| σφόδρα | sphodra | exceedingly | G4970 → | 11 times |
| λέγοντες· | legontes | saying; | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| τίς | tis | Who | G5101 → | 563 times |
| ἄρα | ara | then | G686 → | 49 times |
| δύναται | dunatai | is able | G1410 → | 207 times |
| σωθῆναι; | sothenai | to be saved? | G4982 → | 105 times |
ἈκούσαντεςHaving heard
akousantesG191 →425 times
δὲnow
deG1161 →2765 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
μαθηταὶdisciples
mathetaiG3101 →260 times
ἐξεπλήσσοντοwere astonished
exeplessontoG1605 →13 times
σφόδραexceedingly
sphodraG4970 →11 times
λέγοντες·saying;
legontesG3004 →1325 times
τίςWho
tisG5101 →563 times
ἄραthen
araG686 →49 times
δύναταιis able
dunataiG1410 →207 times
σωθῆναι;to be saved?
sothenaiG4982 →105 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 10:13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
it leads to
Through
Matthew 24:22If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
it leads to
- Mark 13:20
If the Lord had not cut short those days, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has cut them short.
- 2 Timothy 2:10
For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
- Matthew 24:31
And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
- Matthew 24:24
For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible.
- Luke 18:7
Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?
- Mark 13:20
Through
Mark 13:20If the Lord had not cut short those days, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has cut them short.
it leads to
- Matthew 24:22
If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
- Matthew 24:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Matthew
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 63; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.