Matthew
Chapter 19
1 1 When Jesus 2 finished these words, 3 he left Galilee and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.
耶稣讲完这些话以后，就离开加里肋亚，来到约旦对岸的犹太境内。
2 Great crowds followed him, and he cured them there.
有许多群众跟随他，他就在那里医好了他们。
3 Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him, 4 saying, ＂Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?＂
有些法利塞人来到他跟前，试探他说：＂许不许人为了任何缘故，休自己的妻子?＂
4 5 He said in reply, ＂Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female'
他回答说：＂你们没有念过：那创造者自起初就造了他们一男一女；
5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?
且说：‘为此，人要离开父亲和母亲，依附自己的妻子，两人成为一体’的话吗?
6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.＂
这样，他们不是两个，而是一体了。为此，凡天主所结合的，人不可拆散。＂
7 6 They said to him, ＂Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss (her)?＂
他们对他说：“那么，为什么梅瑟还吩咐人下休书休妻呢?”
8 He said to them, ＂Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
耶稣对他们说：“梅瑟为了你们的心硬，才准许你们休妻，但起初并不是这样。
9 I say to you, 7 whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.＂
如今我对你们说：无论谁休妻，除非因为姘居，而另娶一个，他就是犯奸淫;凡娶被休的,也是犯奸淫。”
10 [His] disciples said to him, ＂If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.＂
门徒对他说：“人同妻子的关系，如果是这样，倒不如不娶的好。”
11 He answered, ＂Not all can accept [this] word, 8 but only those to whom that is granted.
耶稣对他们说：“这话不是人人所能领悟的，只有那些得了恩赐的人，才能领悟。
12 Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage 9 for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.＂
因为有些阉人，从母胎生来就是这样，有些阉人，是被人阉的；有些阉人，却是为了天国，而自阉的。能领悟的，就领悟吧！”
13 10 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them,
那时，有人给耶稣领来一些小孩子。要他给他们覆手祈祷，门徒却斥责他们。
14 but Jesus said, ＂Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.＂
耶稣说：“你们让小孩子来吧！不要阻止他们到我跟前来，因为天国正是属于这样的人。”
15 After he placed his hands on them, he went away.
耶稣给他们覆了手，就从那里走了。
16 11 12 Now someone approached him and said, ＂Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?＂
有一个人来到耶稣跟前说：师傅！我该行什么‘善’为得永生?”
17 He answered him, ＂Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. 13 If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.＂
耶稣对他说：“你为什么问我关于‘善?’善的只有一个。如果你愿意进入生命，就该遵守诫命。”
18 14 He asked him, ＂Which ones?＂ And Jesus replied, ＂‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness;
他对耶稣说：“什么诫命？”耶稣说：“就是：不可杀人，不可奸淫，不可偷盗，不可作假见证，
19 honor your father and your mother'; and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.'＂
应孝敬父母，应爱你的近人，如爱你自己。”
20 15 The young man said to him, ＂All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?＂
那少年人对耶稣说：“这一切我都遵守了，还缺少什么?”
21 Jesus said to him, ＂If you wish to be perfect, 16 go, sell what you have and give to (the) poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.＂
耶稣对他说：“你若愿意是成全的，去！变卖你所有的，施舍给穷人，你必有宝藏在天上；然后来跟随我。”
22 When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
少年人一听这话，就忧闷的走了，因为他拥有许多产业。
23 17 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ＂Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
于是，耶稣对门徒说：“我实在告诉你们：富人难进天国。
24 Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.＂
我再告诉你们：骆驼穿过针孔，比富人进天国还容易。”
25 18 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, ＂Who then can be saved?＂
门徒们听了，就非常惊异说：“这样，谁还能得救呢?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, ＂For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.＂
耶稣注视他们说：“为人这是不可能的；但为天主，一切都是可能的。”
27 Then Peter said to him in reply, ＂We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?＂
那时，伯多禄开口对他说：“看，我们舍弃了一切，跟随了你；那么，将来我们可得到什么呢?”
28 19 Jesus said to them, ＂Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
耶稣对他们说：“我实在告诉你们，你们这些跟随我的人，在重生的世代，人子坐在自己光荣的宝座上时，你们也要坐在十二宝座上，审判以色列十二支派；
29 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.
并且，凡为我的名，舍弃了房屋、或兄弟、或姊妹、或父亲、或母亲、或妻子、或儿女、或田地的，必要领取百倍的赏报，并承受永生。
30 20 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
有许多在先的要成为在后的，在后的要成为在先的。”
Footnotes(注解)
1 [1-23:39] The narrative section of the fifth book of the gospel. The first part (Matthew 19:1-20:34) has for its setting the journey of Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem; the second (Matthew 21:1-23:39) deals with Jesus' ministry in Jerusalem up to the final great discourse of the gospel (Matthew 24-25). Matthew follows the Marcan sequence of events, though adding material both special to this gospel and drawn from Q. The second part ends with the denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-36) followed by Jesus' lament over Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37-39). This long and important speech raises a problem for the view that Matthew is structured around five other discourses of Jesus (see Introduction) and that this one has no such function in the gospel. However, it is to be noted that this speech lacks the customary concluding formula that follows the five discourses (see the note on Matthew 7:28), and that those discourses are all addressed either exclusively (Matthew 10;18;24;25) or primarily (Matthew 5-7;13) to the disciples, whereas this is addressed primarily to the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 13-36). Consequently, it seems plausible to maintain that the evangelist did not intend to give it the structural importance of the five other discourses, and that, in spite of its being composed of sayings-material, it belongs to the narrative section of this book. In that regard, it is similar to the sayings-material of Matthew 11:7-30. Some have proposed that Matthew wished to regard it as part of the final discourse of Matthew 24-25, but the intervening material (Matthew 24:1-4) and the change in matter and style of those chapters do not support that view.
2 [1] In giving Jesus' teaching on divorce (Matthew 19:3-9), Matthew here follows his Marcan source (Mark 10:2-12) as he does Q in Matthew 5:31-32 (cf Luke 16:18). Matthew 19:10-12 are peculiar to Matthew.
3 [1] When Jesus finished these words: see the note on Matthew 7:28-29. The district of Judea across the Jordan: an inexact designation of the territory. Judea did not extend across the Jordan; the territory east of the river was Perea. The route to Jerusalem by way of Perea avoided passage through Samaria.
4 [3] Tested him: the verb is used of attempts of Jesus' opponents to embarrass him by challenging him to do something they think impossible (Matthew 16:1; Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16) or by having him say something that they can use against him (Matthew 22:18, 35; Mark 10:2; 12:15). For any cause whatever: this is peculiar to Matthew and has been interpreted by some as meaning that Jesus was being asked to take sides in the dispute between the schools of Hillel and Shammai on the reasons for divorce, the latter holding a stricter position than the former. It is unlikely, however, that to ask Jesus' opinion about the differing views of two Jewish schools, both highly respected, could be described as ＂testing＂ him, for the reason indicated above.
5 [4-6] Matthew recasts his Marcan source, omitting Jesus' question about Moses' command (Mark 10:3) and having him recall at once two Genesis texts that show the will and purpose of the Creator in making human beings male and female (Genesis 1:27), namely, that a man may be joined to his wife in marriage in the intimacy of one flesh (Genesis 2:24). What God has thus joined must not be separated by any human being. (The NAB translation of the Hebrew basar of Genesis 2:24 as ＂body＂ rather than ＂flesh＂ obscures the reference of Matthew to that text.)
6 [7] See Deut 24:1-4
7 [9] Moses' concession to human sinfulness (the hardness of your hearts, Matthew 19:8) is repudiated by Jesus, and the original will of the Creator is reaffirmed against that concession. (Unless the marriage is unlawful): see the note on Matthew 5:31-32. There is some evidence suggesting that Jesus' absolute prohibition of divorce was paralleled in the Qumran community (see 11QTemple 57:17-19; CD 4:12b-5:14). Matthew removes Mark's setting of this verse as spoken to the disciples alone ＂in the house＂ (Mark 10:10) and also his extension of the divorce prohibition to the case of a woman's divorcing her husband (Mark 10:12), probably because in Palestine, unlike the places where Roman and Greek law prevailed, the woman was not allowed to initiate the divorce.
8 [11] [This] word: probably the disciples' ＂it is better not to marry＂ (Matthew 19:10). Jesus agrees but says that celibacy is not for all but only for those to whom that is granted by God.
9 [12] Incapable of marriage: literally, ＂eunuchs.＂ Three classes are mentioned, eunuchs from birth, eunuchs by castration, and those who have voluntarily renounced marriage (literally, ＂have made themselves eunuchs＂) for the sake of the kingdom, i.e., to devote themselves entirely to its service. Some scholars take the last class to be those who have been divorced by their spouses and have refused to enter another marriage. But it is more likely that it is rather those who have chosen never to marry, since that suits better the optional nature of the decision: whoever can . . . ought to accept it.
10 [13-15] This account is understood by some as intended to justify the practice of infant baptism. That interpretation is based principally on the command not to prevent the children from coming, since that word sometimes has a baptismal connotation in the New Testament; see Acts 8:36.
11 [16-30] Cf Mark 10:17-31. This story does not set up a ＂two-tier＂ morality, that of those who seek (only) eternal life (Matthew 19:16) and that of those who wish to be perfect (Matthew 16:21). It speaks rather of the obstacle that riches constitute for the following of Jesus and of the impossibility, humanly speaking, for one who has many possessions (Matthew 16:22) to enter the kingdom (Matthew 16:24). Actual renunciation of riches is not demanded of all; Matthew counts the rich Joseph of Arimathea as a disciple of Jesus (Matthew 27:57). But only the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3) can enter the kingdom and, as here, such poverty may entail the sacrifice of one's possessions. The Twelve, who have given up everything (Matthew 16:27) to follow Jesus, will have as their reward a share in Jesus' (the Son of Man's) judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 16:28), and all who have similarly sacrificed family or property for his sake will inherit eternal life (Matthew 16:29).
12 [16] Gain eternal life: this is equivalent to ＂entering into life＂ (Matthew 19:17) and ＂being saved＂ (Matthew 16:25); the life is that of the new age after the final judgment (see Matthew 25:46). It probably is also equivalent here to ＂entering the kingdom of heaven＂ (Matthew 19:23) or ＂the kingdom of God＂ (Matthew 19:24), but see the notes on Matthew 3:2; 4:17; 18:1 for the wider reference of the kingdom in Matthew.
13 [17] By Matthew's reformulation of the Marcan question and reply (Mark 10:17-18) Jesus' repudiation of the term ＂good＂ for himself has been softened. Yet the Marcan assertion that ＂no one is good but God alone＂ stands, with only unimportant verbal modification.
14 [18-19] The first five commandments cited are from the Decalogue (see Exodus 20:12-16; Deut 5:16-20). Matthew omits Mark's ＂you shall not defraud＂ (Matthew 10:19; see Deut 24:14) and adds Lev 19:18. This combination of commandments of the Decalogue with Lev 19:18 is partially the same as Paul's enumeration of the demands of Christian morality in Romans 13:9.
15 [20] Young man: in Matthew alone of the synoptics the questioner is said to be a young man; thus the Marcan ＂from my youth＂ (Matthew 10:20) is omitted.
16 [21] If you wish to be perfect: to be perfect is demanded of all Christians; see Matthew 5:48. In the case of this man, it involves selling his possessions and giving to the poor; only so can he follow Jesus.
17 [23-24] Riches are an obstacle to entering the kingdom that cannot be overcome by human power. The comparison with the impossibility of a camel's passing through the eye of a needle should not be mitigated by such suppositions as that the eye of a needle means a low or narrow gate. The kingdom of God: as in Matthew 12:28; 21:31, 43 instead of Matthew's usual kingdom of heaven.
18 [25-26] See the note on Mark 10:23-27.
19 [28] This saying, directed to the Twelve, is from Q; see Luke 22:29-30. The new age: the Greek word here translated ＂new age＂ occurs in the New Testament only here and in Titus 3:5. Literally, it means ＂rebirth＂ or ＂regeneration,＂ and is used in Titus of spiritual rebirth through baptism. Here it means the ＂rebirth＂ effected by the coming of the kingdom. Since that coming has various stages (see the notes on Matthew 3:2; 4:17), the new age could be taken as referring to the time after the resurrection when the Twelve will govern the true Israel, i.e., the church of Jesus. (For ＂judge＂ in the sense of ＂govern,＂ cf Judges 12:8, 9, 11; 15:20; 16:31; Psalm 2:10). But since it is connected here with the time when the Son of Man will be seated on his throne of glory, language that Matthew uses in Matthew 25:31 for the time of final judgment, it is more likely that what the Twelve are promised is that they will be joined with Jesus then in judging the people of Israel.
20 [30] Different interpretations have been given to this saying, which comes from Mark 10:31. In view of Matthew's associating it with the following parable (Matthew 20:1-15) and substantially repeating it (in reverse order) at the end of that parable (Matthew 20:16), it may be that his meaning is that all who respond to the call of Jesus, at whatever time (first or last), will be the same in respect to inheriting the benefits of the kingdom, which is the gift of God.