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Mark 10:20

in Mark 10

“Teacher,” he replied, “all these I have kept from my youth.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he said unto him, Teacher, all these things have I observed from my youth.

KJV

And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.

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This verse in Mark 10

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

LETTER 118, TO JULIAN · Written before 420.

He who declared that he had observed all the commandments had already yielded to the power of riches from the very outset.

This site's exposition

Thou knowest the commandments

on Mark 10:19-20

Thou knowest the commandments lists five of the second table's demands and then adds defraud not, a command absent from the Decalogue itself, and the bench reads it as Jesus' own gloss aimed at the very sin, withholding wages or goods owed another, that a rich man's wealth is most often built on. All these have I observed from my youth is the man's honest and probably accurate claim, Jesus never disputing it, and the bench notes the answer exposes not a hidden hypocrisy but the actual limit of what commandment-keeping alone can secure. The man has kept the law and still asks what he lacks, the question itself proving the law was never going to be enough.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

LETTER 157, TO HILARIUS · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

But the young man went away sad, so anyone can see how far he kept those commandments of the law. I think he spoke with more pride than truth when he answered that he had kept them.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 735.

proposed

(ubi sup.) On which there follows, And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. We must not suppose that this man either asked the Lord, with a wish to tempt him, as some have fancied, or lied in his account of his life; but we must believe that he confessed with simplicity how he had lived; which is evident, from what is subjoined, Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him. If however he had been guilty of lying or of dissimulation, by no means would Jesus, after looking on the secrets of his heart, have been said to love him.

A commentator

Bede

On the Gospel of Mark · Written before 735.

proposed

And he, answering, said, "Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth," etc. This man should not be thought to have tempted the Lord with any vow (as some have thought), nor to have lied about his life when he said that he …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And he answered and, said unto him,.... With a great deal of pertness, master, all these have I observed from my youth; See Gill on Mat 19:20. In a certain copy, Beza says, it is added, as there, "what lack I yet?" and so in one of Stephens's copies.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

However, he that could say he was free from scandalous sin, went further than many in the way to eternal life. But though we know nothing by ourselves, yet are we not thereby justified. Christ had a kindness for him;
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

The story we have now read is recorded no less than three times in the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, and Luke were all inspired by one Spirit to write it for our learning. There is no doubt a wise purpose in this three-fold repetition of the same simple facts. It is intended to show us that the lessons of the passage deserve particular notice from the Church of Christ. Let us learn for one thing from this passage, the self-ignorance of man. We are told of one who "came running" to our Lord, and "kneeled to him and asked" the solemn question, "what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" At first sight there was much that was promising in this man's case. He showed anxiety about spiritual things, while most around him were careless and indifferent. He showed a disposition to reverence our Lord, by kneeling to Him, while Scribes and Pharisees despised Him. Yet all this time this man was profoundly ignorant of his own heart. He hears our Lord recite those commandments which make up our duty to our neighbor, and at once declares, "All these have I observed from my youth." The searching nature of the moral law, its application to our thoughts, and words, as well as actions, are matters with which he is utterly unacquainted. The spiritual blindness here exhibited is unhappily most common. Myriads of professing Christians at the present day have not an idea of their own sinfulness and guilt in the sight of God. They flatter themselves that they have never done anything very wicked. "They have never murdered, or stolen, or committed adultery, or borne false witness. They cannot surely be in much danger of missing heaven." They forget the holy nature of that God with whom they have to do. They forget how often they break His law in temper, or imagination, even when their outward conduct is correct.
The story we have now read is recorded no less than three times in the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, and Luke were all inspired by one Spirit to write it for our learning. There is no doubt a wise purpose in this three-fold repetition of the same simple facts. It is intended to show us that the lessons of the passage deserve particular notice from the Church of Christ. Let us learn for one thing from this passage, the self-ignorance of man.

The words behind it

11 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

10 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Timothy 3:5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!6 worksEzekiel 33:31–32So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.6 worksPhilippians 3:6as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.5 worksRomans 7:9Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.4 worksMatthew 19:20“All these I have kept,” said the young man. “What do I still lack?”4 worksLuke 18:11–12The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.4 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
Luke 10:29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”3 worksMalachi 3:8Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.3 worksIsaiah 58:2For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”2 worksEzekiel 5:14I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    2 Timothy 3:5

    having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 29:13

      Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught…

    • Titus 1:16

      They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

    • Matthew 23:27–28

      Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.

    • 1 Timothy 5:8

      If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

    • Romans 2:20–24

      an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—

  • Through

    Philippians 3:6

    as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 1:13–14

      For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.

    • Acts 8:3

      But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

  • Through

    Romans 7:9

    Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 3:10

      All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”

Where this verse is studied

About Mark

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633. Public domain.
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633. Public domain.
Mark: the study guide →Read Mark 10 →

This page draws on Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 157, TO HILARIUS; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jerome, LETTER 118, TO JULIAN; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Mark 10 →