Mar 10:23 How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
Mar 10:23 How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
Alternative: I suppose those having property are discontented entering the kingdom of God.
What comes across as a condemnation of wealth in English translation has the much sharper feel of a humorous comment in the original Greek. Christ's words are full of soft (or is it biting?) humor like this, but, unfortunately, his words are often drained of their fun in translation.
The key word here translated as "hardly" in KJV and "hard" or "difficult" in most other versions has a much different meaning in Greek. It means "hard to please" or "peevish." It is an adjective describing people, here, those having wealth.
"How" is from pôs (pos), which means "in any way," "at all," "by any mean," "in a certain way," and "I suppose."
"Can hardly" is from duskolos (dyskolos), which means "hard to satisfy with food," "hard to please," "discontented," "fretful," "peevish," and "difficult to explain."
"They that have" is from echô (echo), which means "to have," "to hold," "to possess," "to keep," "to have charge of," "to maintain," "to hold fast," "to bear," "to keep close," "to keep safe," and "to have means to do."
"Riches" is from chrêma (chrema), which means "need," "goods," "property," "money," "merchandise," "substance," "thing," "matter," "affair," "a deal," and "a heap of."
"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."
"Kingdom" is from basileia (basileia), which means "kingdom," "dominion," "hereditary monarchy," "kingly office," (passive) "being ruled by a king," and "reign."
