The Anselm Project Bible · The Crux Registry

Mark 10:24 — hard for whom to enter the kingdom?

Mark 10:24 has both an absolute reading, πῶς δύσκολόν ἐστιν, and a qualifier, τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐπὶ χρήμασιν, for those who trust in riches. The wording changes who is addressed by the difficulty of entering the kingdom.

πῶς δύσκολόν ἐστιν
pōs dyskolon estin — how hard it is — for anyone
τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐπὶ χρήμασιν
tous pepoithotas epi chrēmasin — + “for those who trust in riches”
Between the rich young ruler and the camel, a comforting qualifier slips into the later manuscripts — and takes the sting out of the saying.
IThe Reading

What the APB prints.

The disciples were amazed at his words. Jesus again answered and says, Children, how difficult it is to enter toward the kingdom of God!
Mark 10:24 (source numbering) · Anselm Project Bible
IIThe Witnesses

Every witness, on the record.

Westcott-Hort (1881)
WH · critical edition, 1881
ἐστινhard for anyone (no qualifier)
WH and NA28 print the absolute saying, with Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. Westcott-Hort (1881) reads ἐστιν without the qualifier and is described here as a critical edition. SBLGNT apparatus (Faithlife, CC BY 4.0)
Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform
RP · Byzantine majority edition, 2005
τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐπὶ χρήμασινhard for those who trust in riches
Tregelles and the Byzantine text carry the qualifier the KJV inherited. Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform (2005) reads τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐπὶ χρήμασιν and is described here as a Byzantine majority edition. SBLGNT apparatus (Faithlife, CC BY 4.0)
supports if the saying is absolutesupports if only the trusting rich
IIIThe Blind Test

What a blind committee did here.

The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Whatever it did at this verse, it did on the language alone — and its record is public.

Committee recordaudit verdict: clean

The blind committee's APB renders Mark 10:24: Children, how difficult it is to enter toward the kingdom of God! Its record supplies no rationale note for this crux. The pericope audit verdict is "clean". The APB wording shown here does not include the qualifier concerning trust in riches.

IVThe Stakes

The case for each reading.

If the saying is absolute

Reading A leaves Mark 10:24 with πῶς δύσκολόν ἐστιν: Jesus addresses the disciples as Children and says how difficult it is to enter toward the kingdom of God. On this wording, the saying is not grammatically limited to those who trust in riches. Westcott-Hort reads ἐστιν without the added phrase, and the apparatus places WH and NA28 with that form. The immediate APB context still includes those having money in Mark 10:23 and a rich person in Mark 10:25. Thus the case for A is not that wealth disappears from the surrounding scene, but that verse 24 itself states the difficulty without adding a specified group.

If only the trusting rich

Reading B adds τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐπὶ χρήμασιν, identifying those who trust in riches as the people for whom entry is difficult. Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform reads the qualifier, and the apparatus places Treg and RP with the addition. This wording fits the pericope's nearby references to those having money and to a rich person. It also makes a concrete distinction within the discussion: the difficulty in Mark 10:24 is expressed of trust in riches rather than left unqualified. The case for B rests on the transmitted added words and their more specific framing of the saying.

The packet identifies two forms of Mark 10:24 but does not provide a rationale note for the committee's wording. What remains uncertain here is whether the verse's difficulty is stated generally or specifically of those who trust in riches. Mark 10:23 still speaks of those having money, and Mark 10:25 still speaks of a rich person; those surrounding APB lines do not depend on the added phrase.

VQuestions

Asked plainly.

Does Mark 10:24 say those who trust in riches?

Some witnesses add τοὺς πεποιθότας ἐπὶ χρήμασιν, for those who trust in riches. Others read πῶς δύσκολόν ἐστιν without that qualifier.

What does the APB print in Mark 10:24?

The APB prints: Children, how difficult it is to enter toward the kingdom of God! It does not show the qualifier concerning trust in riches.

Does the variant remove wealth from the passage?

No. The APB lines supplied for Mark 10:23 refer to those having money, and Mark 10:25 refers to a rich person. The variant concerns the wording of Mark 10:24.

VIThe Registry

More places where the manuscripts argue.

Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. Nothing on this page declares a winner — the evidence is the point.

Weigh it yourself.

The registry doesn't tell you which reading is true. It puts every witness on one page, shows what a blind committee did with the same language, and leaves the verdict where it belongs — with the reader.