eternal life

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The Greek that is translated in English as “eternal life” is translated in various ways:

Lloyd Peckham explains the Mairasi translation: “In secret stories, not knowable to women nor children, there was a magical fruit of life. If referred to vaguely, without specifying the specific ‘fruit,’ it can be an expression for eternity.”

See also eternity / forever and salvation.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Eternal Life in John .

teacher

The Greek that is translated as “teacher” (also: “master”) in English is translated in the 1941 Yiddish by Einspruch as rebe (רֶבּי) or “Rabbi” in an effort to identify Jesus as a teacher of the Jews. (Source: Naomi Seidmann in Elliott / Boer 2012, p. 151ff.)

Likewise, a number of Hebrew translations, including the 2018 and 2020 editions by the The Bible Society in Israel also use “Rabbi” (רַבִּי).

See also rabbi.

complete verse (Matthew 19:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 19:16:

  • Uma: “One time a man came to Yesus and asked him: ‘Teacher, what good deed/behavior must I do in order to receive good life until forever?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then a certain man came to Isa and he said, ‘Sir, what good deed shall I do so that I have everlasting life?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there was a young person who came to Jesus and asked, ‘Oh, Teacher, what is good that I should do so that I might be given life forever?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “On one-occasion also, there was a man who went to Jesus. ‘Sir teacher,’ he said, ‘what good-thing must I do so that I will have life that has no end?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Next, there was a young man who went to Jesus, questioning, who said, ‘Teacher, what is it that I have to do so that life can be mine which has no ending?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “A man approached Jesus and said to him: ‘Listen, good teacher, which good is more important that I do in order that God give me the new life forever?’ he said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 19:16

And behold translates a Semitism which may be used either to indicate emphasis or to mark a transition. Here it seems to function solely as a transitional, and so Good News Translation renders it as “Once.” Some translations have had something like “It happened one time that.” Other translations do not even represent it in the text (Moffatt, An American Translation, Barclay).

One is a masculine form in Greek, and so several translations utilize “man” (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible). Mark describes the individual in the same way, though Luke (18.18, TEV) speaks of him as “a Jewish leader” (Revised Standard Version “a ruler”).

As elsewhere, came up to may more naturally be “went up to” or “approached.”

Good News Translation identifies him as Jesus, because this sentence begins a new section and paragraph.

Teacher is the wording of most translations. In some Greek manuscripts the adjective “good” is also found (King James Version “Good master”), but TC-GNT concludes that this modifier was brought in by later copyists from the parallel accounts in Mark (10.17) and Luke (18.18). For comments on Teacher, see 8.19.

What good deed (so also Moffatt, An American Translation, New Jerusalem Bible) is translated “what good thing” by Good News Translation, New International Version. In Greek the neuter adjective good appears alone, without specific mention of the noun which it modifies. Therefore New English Bible and New American Bible render “what good.” However, for many languages it will be impossible to leave the modifier good without specific mention of the noun it modifies. Since the reference is obviously to some meritorious deed or action, the proposals represented by Revised Standard Version and Moffatt are perhaps the best solutions. Barclay restructures to say “what must I do to make myself good enough…?”

Eternal life is mentioned three times in the Gospel, twice in this chapter (verses 16, 29) and once in 25.46. Originally it was primarily a qualitative term, descriptive of life in the “age” in which God would rule (eternal derives from the noun “age”). But it later developed the meaning eternal or “everlasting,” since it was believed that the coming age of God’s rule would be endless. Elsewhere Matthew uses the adjective in the combination of “eternal fire” (18.8) and “eternal punishment” (25.46). So it is quite likely that the meaning is best expressed as “everlasting” or eternal.

Have eternal life has sometimes been translated as “receive eternal life.” In either case there is an implied giver of this life, God, and some languages require that this be made explicit, as in “for God to give me life that doesn’t end.”

Sometimes it is necessary to restructure the sentence, as for example, “Teacher, if I am to have eternal life, what good deed must I do?” or “For God to give me eternal life, what good thing do I have to do?”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 19:16



Section 19:16–30

Jesus taught about entering the kingdom of heaven

In this section, a young man asked Jesus what he must do to get eternal life. Jesus gave him a standard answer, which was to obey God’s commands.

The young man apparently felt that this was not enough and asked what else he should do (19:20). Then Jesus told him to sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow him. The young man was rich, and he was not willing to sell his things. So he left.

Jesus then used the rich young man as an example. He explained that riches make it difficult to enter the kingdom (19:23–24). The saying of a camel going through the eye of a needle was probably a well-known proverb about something impossible to do. Without God making it possible, neither a rich person nor anyone else is able to enter the kingdom (19:26).

Jesus also gave a promise that those whom he asked to leave their possessions and family behind to serve him would receive great rewards (19:29).

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Rich Young Man (New International Version)
-or-
A rich young man’s questions

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 10:17–31 and Luke 18:18–30.

Paragraph 19:16–22

19:16a

Just then: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Just then literally means “look” or “see.” This word brings attention to the words that follow. If you have an expression in your language that someone uses when he wants to bring attention to something that he is about to say, you should use it here.

Here are some other ways to translate this word in its context:

And behold (English Standard Version)
-or-
Then it happened that (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

Many English versions do not translate this word here.

a man: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a man is more literally the word “one” (as in the Revised Standard Version). In 19:22, Matthew called him a “young man.” So here most English versions translate it as a man.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

a certain man
-or-
a young man

came up to Jesus: At the end of 19:15, Jesus began to travel. So the clause came up to Jesus probably means that the man met Jesus along the way.

This sentence starts a new section. So in some languages, it will be natural to mention the name of Jesus again. For example:

approached Jesus

19:16b

Teacher: Here, the word Teacher refers to a religious teacher. It was a polite title for a Jewish man who had authority to teach the things about God. Use a title that is an appropriate way to address a religious teacher in your culture. It should not refer only to a school teacher.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

Sir
-or-
Master

what good thing must I do: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as good thing is more literally just the adjective “good.” In this context it refers to deeds/activities that God considers good.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

what good must I do (Revised English Bible)
-or-
I must do which good work

to obtain: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as obtain means “have, obtain, possess.”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

to possess (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
to gain (Revised English Bible)
-or-
to get (New International Version)

eternal life: The word eternal refers to something that does not end. The phrase eternal life refers to life in God’s kingdom. This life continues forever.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

unending life
-or-
life that never ends

In some languages, it may be best to translate life as a verb. For example:

to live eternally/forever

-or-

so that ⌊God will cause me⌋ to live forever

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