Jesus says that those with riches will enter the sky realm with nothing.
Mark 10:24 Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
Mark 10:24 Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
Children, how difficult it is to enter into the realm of the Divine?
Again, Jesus's humor shines through this verse. Notice that he begins by calling his listeners "children" after saying in Mark 10:15 that we must be like children to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus is clearly being ironic.This may well be a rhetorical question, where the expected answer is "not at all."
Though the word translated as "hard" was best translated as "with difficulty" in previous verse is better translated as "difficult" here.
While the previous verse's "enter" was in the middle voice, "enter by themselves," the infinitive here is active, "to enter."
It may be hard, but not unpleasant.
Children, how hard is it [for them that trust in riches(OS)] to enter into the kingdom of (MW) God!
- OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "for them that trust in riches" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the source we use today.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "God" is not shown in the English translation.
Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of (MW) God!
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "God" is not shown in the English translation.
Children, -- The word translated as "children" means "child" but in the most general sense of "offspring." Jesus does not use it to refer specifically to children under seven, which is another term. See this article more about these words for "child." The form could be one of address (vocative), the subject of the sentence, or the object of the sentence.
how -- "How" is the adverb that means "how", "by any means", and "I suppose".
hard -- "Hard" is the keyword here. This is the adverbial form which means "hardly," "with difficulty," "peevishly" or "fretfully". As an adjective, when referring to people, it means "hard to please." And when referring to things, "troublesome." As an adjective it means "hard to satisfy with food", "hard to please", "unpleasant," "discontented", "fretful", "peevish," and "difficult to explain."
is -- The verb "is" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. -- When the verb "to be" appears early in the clause before the subject, the sense is more like "it is" or, in the plural, "there are."
it -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
for them that trust in riches -- -- (OS) There is nothing in the Greek that can be translated as "for them that trust in riches" in the source we use today but it does exist in the source that the KJV translators used.
to -- This is from the infinitive form of the verb, which requires a "to" in English.
enter -- "Enter" is a word that means "go or come into" and has the double meaning of "coming into one's mind." The tense is future and the form is the subject acting on themselves.
into - The word translated as "into" means "into" a place, "towards" as a direction, "in regards to" a subject, and "up to" limits in time and measure.
the -- The untranslated word is the Greek definite article.The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
kingdom -- The word translated as "kingdom" can be the region, the reign, the castle or the authority of a ruler. Christ does not seem to use it to mean a physical region, so its translation as "reign" or "realm" seems more appropriate. This is especially true because the "reign" of a king means the execution of his will.
of -- This is from the genitive form of following article and noun.
missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article,"the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more.
God! -- The word translated as "of God" means "God" and "deity." It is introduced with an article, so "the God." Jesus often uses it this way perhaps to indicate the one God as opposed to the pagan gods. It is possessive so "of the Divine"
Children, -- The word translated as "children" means "child" but in the most general sense of "offspring." Jesus does not use it to refer specifically to children under seven, which is another term. See this article more about these words for "child." The form could be one of address (vocative), the subject of the sentence, or the object of the sentence.
how -- "How" is the adverb that means "how", "by any means", and "I suppose".
hard -- "Hard" is the keyword here. This is the adverbial form which means "hardly," "with difficulty," "peevishly" or "fretfully". As an adjective, when referring to people, it means "hard to please." And when referring to things, "troublesome." As an adjective it means "hard to satisfy with food", "hard to please", "unpleasant," "discontented", "fretful", "peevish," and "difficult to explain."
it -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
is -- The verb "is" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics. -- When the verb "to be" appears early in the clause before the subject, the sense is more like "it is" or, in the plural, "there are."
to -- This is from the infinitive form of the verb, which requires a "to" in English.
enter -- "Enter" is a word that means "go or come into" and has the double meaning of "coming into one's mind." The tense is future and the form is the subject acting on themselves.
into - The word translated as "into" means "into" a place, "towards" as a direction, "in regards to" a subject, and "up to" limits in time and measure.
the -- The untranslated word is the Greek definite article.The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
kingdom -- The word translated as "kingdom" can be the region, the reign, the castle or the authority of a ruler. Christ does not seem to use it to mean a physical region, so its translation as "reign" or "realm" seems more appropriate. This is especially true because the "reign" of a king means the execution of his will.
of -- This is from the genitive form of following article and noun.
missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article,"the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more.
God! -- The word translated as "of God" means "God" and "deity." It is introduced with an article, so "the God." Jesus often uses it this way perhaps to indicate the one God as opposed to the pagan gods. It is possessive so "of the Divine"
Τέκνα, [25 verses]( noun pl neut nom/acc/voc ) "Children" is teknon, which means "that which is born", "child," and "the young."
πῶς [36 verses](adv/conj) "How" is pos, which means "how", "how in the world", "how then", "in any way", "at all", "by any mean", "in a certain way,"and "I suppose." -- "How" is the adverb that means "how", "by any means", and "I suppose".
δύσκολόν [4 verses](adv/adj sg neut acc) "Hard" is dyskolos, which means "hard to satisfy with food," "hard to please," "difficult to explain," "discontented," "fretful," "peevish," (of animals) "intractable," (of things) "troublesome," "harassing," and, generally, "unpleasant." Add an "-ly" to these words to create adverbs with this sense. This is the adverbial form which means "hardly," "with difficulty," "peevishly" or "fretfully".
ἐστιν .[614 verses]( verb 3rd sg pres ind act ) "Is" is eimi, which means "to be," "to exist," "to be the case," of circumstance and events "to happen," and "is possible." With the genitive object, the sense is "belongs to." With the dative, it means "have" where the subject and object are reversed. With the preposition, eis, , the sense is "consist of."
εἰς [325 verses](prep) "Into" is eis, which means "into (of place)," "up to (of time)", "until (of time)", "as much as (of measure or limit)", "as far as (of measure or limit)", "towards (to express relation)", "in regard to (to express relation)", "of an end or limit," and "for (of purpose or object)."
τὴν [821 verses](article sg fem nom) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."
βασιλείαν [98 verses](noun sg fem nom) "Kingdom" is basileia, which means "kingdom", "dominion", "hereditary monarchy", "kingly office," (passive) "being ruled by a king," and "reign."
τοῦ [821 verses](article sg masc gen) Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). -
θεοῦ [144 verses](noun sg masc gen) "God" is theos, which means "God," "divine," and "Deity."
εἰσελθεῖν: [68 verses] (verb aor inf act ) "To enter" is from eiserchomai, which means both "to go into", "to come in", "to enter", "to enter an office", "to enter a charge," (as in court) and "to come into one's mind."
Jesus is playing on the changing meaning of the adjective from "hard to please" referring to rich people to "troublesome" referring to entering the realm of the Divine.