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“I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?”
Matthew 19:20 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB The young man said to him, “All these things I have observed from my youth. What do I still lack?”
  • KJV The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
  • BSB “All these I have kept,” said the young man. “What do I still lack?”
  • NKJV The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”
  • NASB The young man *said to Him, “All these I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The young man claims he has kept all these commands yet senses he still lacks something. His confidence and his unease together reveal his real spiritual condition.

Overview

The man's claim to have kept the commandments shows a shallow understanding of the law as outward acts only. Yet his lingering question—'What do I still lack?'—betrays an awareness that something is missing. Jesus will use this opening to expose the idol that rules his heart, showing that self-righteous effort cannot satisfy.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Gal 3:24So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
  • Mark 10:20–21He said to him, “Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth.”
  • Phil 3:6concerning zeal, persecuting the assembly; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless.
  • John 8:7But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.”
  • Luke 18:21–22He said, “I have observed all these things from my youth up.”
  • Rom 7:9I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
  • Luke 15:29But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
  • Luke 15:7I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
  • Luke 18:11–12The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
  • Rom 3:19–23Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 19:20YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'

How Matthew 19:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.