Jesus now turns to his disciples to comment on the young man. And may be expressed as “Then.”

Truly, I say to you translates the same expression used in 6.5. It was last used in 18.3, 13, 18.

It will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven is a fairly formal representation of the Greek text. A few translations, however, have attempted a dynamic equivalent: Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “A rich man finds it difficult to get into God’s new world,” Malay common language version “It is very difficult for a rich man to surrender himself to God’s rule,” and INCL “It is very difficult for a rich man to become one of God’s people.” Another good solution is “It is very difficult for a rich man to become a subject of God (or, a subject in God’s Kingdom).”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .