God & Savior

Matthew 19:26

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26
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Study notes

Jesus says salvation is impossible for people, but with God all things are possible.

Explanation

A rich young man has just gone away sad (19:16-22), and Jesus said it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom (19:23-24). The disciples ask who can be saved. Jesus answers that no one can save themselves, but God can.

Original language
  • ἐμβλέψας (emblepsas): to look into/upon
    Greek · Verb, aorist, active, participle, nominative, singular, masculine · Strong's G1689 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Having looked at them.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 19:26, word 1

  • ἀδύνατόν (adunaton): unable
    Greek · Adjective, nominative, singular, neuter · Strong's G0102 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Impossible.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 19:26, word 10

  • θεῷ (theō): God
    Greek · Noun, dative, singular, masculine · Strong's G2316 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    God.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 19:26, word 14

  • δυνατά (dunata): able
    Greek · Adjective, nominative, plural, neuter · Strong's G1415 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Possible.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Matthew 19:26, word 16

Cross-references
  • Mark 10:27 · Parallel account

    The same saying in Mark.

  • Luke 1:37 · Same theme

    No word from God will ever fail.

  • Genesis 18:14 · Same theme

    Is anything too hard for the LORD?

Sources

Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Greek)

ἐμβλέψας δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· παρὰ ἀνθρώποις τοῦτο ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν, παρὰ δὲ θεῷ πάντα δυνατά

  1. ἐμβλέψαςemblepsas“Having looked on [them]”
    Verb, aorist, active, participle, nominative, singular, masculine · from ἐμβλέπω · “to look into/upon” · Strong's G1689
  2. δὲde“now”
    Conjunction · from δέ · “but/and” · Strong's G1161
  3. ὁho“<the>”
    Article, nominative, singular, masculine · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  4. ἸησοῦςIēsous“Jesus”
    Noun, nominative, singular, masculine · “Jesus/Joshua” · Strong's G2424G
  5. εἶπενeipen“said”
    Verb, 2nd aorist, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from ἔπω, ἐρῶ, εἶπον · “to say” · Strong's G2036
  6. αὐτοῖς·autois“to them;”
    Personal pronoun, dative, plural, masculine · from αὐτός · “he/she/it/self” · Strong's G0846
  7. παρὰpara“With”
    Preposition · from παρά · “from with” · Strong's G3844
  8. ἀνθρώποιςanthrōpois“men”
    Noun, dative, plural, masculine · from ἄνθρωπος · “a human” · Strong's G0444
  9. τοῦτοtouto“this”
    Demonstrative pronoun, nominative, singular, neuter · from οὗτος · “this/he/she/it” · Strong's G3778
  10. ἀδύνατόνadunaton“impossible”
    Adjective, nominative, singular, neuter · from ἀδύνατος · “unable” · Strong's G0102
  11. ἐστιν,estin“is,”
    Verb, present, active, indicative, 3rd person singular · from εἰμί · “to be” · Strong's G1510
  12. παρὰpara“with”
    Preposition · from παρά · “from with” · Strong's G3844
  13. δὲde“however”
    Conjunction · from δέ · “but/and” · Strong's G1161
  14. θεῷtheō“God”
    Noun, dative, singular, masculine · from θεός · “God” · Strong's G2316
  15. πάνταpanta“all things [are]”
    Adjective, nominative, plural, neuter · from πᾶς · “all” · Strong's G3956
  16. δυνατάdunata“possible”
    Adjective, nominative, plural, neuter · from δυνατός · “able” · Strong's G1415
  • Prepared by the God & Savior team. Not yet reviewed by an editor.
  • Greek words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)