18:21
All these I have kept from my youth: In this statement the rich man claimed that he had obeyed all these commands from the time he was young. The text does not indicate whether or not his statement is true.
In some languages it may be more natural to put the time phrase from my youth before the rest of the verse. For example:
From my youth ⌊up until now⌋ I have obeyed/done all these ⌊commandments⌋.
In some languages it may also be more natural to translate the meaning in a negative way. For example:
Beginning from the time I was a small child, I have not disobeyed any of these commands.
All these: The phrase All these refers to all the commands that Jesus mentioned in 18:20b–f. It may be natural to make this explicit. For example:
all these commands (New Century Version)
-or-
all of these ⌊laws⌋
I have kept: In this context, the phrase have kept means “obeyed.” For example:
I have obeyed (Good News Translation)
from my youth: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as from my youth is literally “from youth.” The young man indicated that he had begun to obey the commands when he was a boy and still continued to obey them. Here is another way to translate this:
Ever since I was young (Good News Translation)
he said: The Berean Standard Bible places the phrase he said at the end of the quote in this verse. However, in the Greek text it comes at the beginning of the verse, and several English versions have also placed it there. For example:
And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” (English Standard Version)
Place the phrase where it is natural in your language.
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