The Meaning of Luke 18:18 Explained

Luke 18:18

KJV: And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

YLT: And a certain ruler questioned him, saying, 'Good teacher, what having done -- shall I inherit life age-during?'

Darby: And a certain ruler asked him saying, Good teacher, having done what, shall I inherit eternal life?

ASV: And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  a certain  ruler  asked  him,  saying,  Good  Master,  what  shall I do  to inherit  {5661} eternal  life? 

What does Luke 18:18 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The young man believed he could do something to earn eternal life, and he wanted to make sure he had not overlooked it (cf. Luke 10:25). John 3:3-15 shows that eternal life includes life in the messianic kingdom. To obtain eternal life meant to enter the kingdom ( John 3:3-5). Luke and Mark both have him using the word "inherit" (Gr. kleronomeso) while Matthew wrote "obtain" (Gr. scho). This difference probably reflects Matthew"s use of the young man"s original word. Mark and Luke probably used the word "inherit" for their Gentile readers to clarify what was in the rich young ruler"s mind. He was talking about getting something that he as a Jew thought that he had a good chance of obtaining because of his ethnic relationship to Abraham.

Context Summary

Luke 18:18-30 - The One Thing Needful
The young ruler was a man of irreproachable character. He might have said of himself all that the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:4, etc. But he was restless and unsatisfied. He felt that Jesus had the key to a life deeper than he had experienced, and he longed to possess it. He was so much in earnest that he knelt in the crowded thoroughfare before the despised Nazarene, Mark 10:17.
He did not know himself. He thought he possessed that love which fulfills the Law, Romans 13:10. Our Lord desired to prove to him that he was deficient in that love, and therefore could not have the eternal life which is love. He did this by suggesting that the young ruler should renounce all and accompany Him in a self-giving for others that must end in a cross. But he shrank back. He dared not face a life of simple faith in God for the supply of temporal needs, and of absolute self-giving to a cross. For all who dare this, whatever is right and good is given back to be held and used under God's direction. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 18

1  Of the importunate widow
9  Of the Pharisee and the tax collector
15  Of Children brought to Jesus
18  A ruler would follow Jesus, but is hindered by his riches
28  The reward of those who leave all for his sake
31  He foretells his death;
35  and restores a blind man to sight

Greek Commentary for Luke 18:18

Ruler [αρχων]
Not in Mark 10:17; Matthew 19:16. [source]
What shall I do to inherit? [Τι ποιησας κληρονομησω]
“By doing what shall I inherit?” Aorist active participle and future active indicative. Precisely the same question is asked by the lawyer in Luke 10:25. This young man probably thought that by some one act he could obtain eternal life. He was ready to make a large expenditure for it.Good (αγατον — agathon). See Mark 10:17 and Matthew 19:16 for discussion of this adjective for absolute goodness. Plummer observes that no Jewish rabbi was called “good” in direct address. The question of Jesus will show whether it was merely fulsome flattery on the part of the young man or whether he really put Jesus on a par with God. He must at any rate define his attitude towards Christ. [source]
Good [αγατον]
See Mark 10:17 and Matthew 19:16 for discussion of this adjective for absolute goodness. Plummer observes that no Jewish rabbi was called “good” in direct address. The question of Jesus will show whether it was merely fulsome flattery on the part of the young man or whether he really put Jesus on a par with God. He must at any rate define his attitude towards Christ. [source]
Ruler []
Peculiar to Luke. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 18:18

John 3:1 Now [δε]
So often in John δε — de is explanatory and transitional, not adversative. Nicodemus is an instance of Christ‘s knowledge of men (John 2:25) and of one to whom he did trust himself unlike those in John 2:24. As a Pharisee “he belonged to that party which with all its bigotry contained a salt of true patriotism and could rear such cultured and high-toned men as Gamaliel and Paul” (Marcus Dods). Named Nicodemus Same construction as in John 1:6, “Nicodemus name to him.” So Revelation 6:8. It is a Greek name and occurs in Josephus (Ant. XIV. iii. 2) as the name of an ambassador from Aristobulus to Pompey. Only in John in N.T. (here, John 7:50; John 19:39). He was a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, and wealthy. There is no evidence that he was the young ruler of Luke 18:18 because of αρχων — archōn (ruler) here. [source]
John 3:4 Being old [γερων ων]
Nicodemus was probably familiar with the notion of re-birth for proselytes to Judaism for the Gentiles, but not with the idea that a Jew had to be reborn. But “this stupid misunderstanding” (Bernard) of the meaning of Jesus is precisely what John represents Nicodemus as making. How “old” Nicodemus was we do not know, but surely too old to be the young ruler of Luke 18:18 as Bacon holds. The blunder of Nicodemus is emphasized by the second question with the μη — mē expecting the negative answer. The use of δευτερον — deuteron adds to the grotesqueness of his blunder. The learned Pharisee is as jejune in spiritual insight as the veriest tyro. This is not an unheard of phenomenon. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 18:18 mean?

And asked a certain Him ruler saying Teacher good what having done life eternal will I inherit
Καὶ ἐπηρώτησέν τις αὐτὸν ἄρχων λέγων Διδάσκαλε ἀγαθέ τί ποιήσας ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω

ἐπηρώτησέν  asked 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἐπερωτάω  
Sense: to accost one with an enquiry, put a question to, enquiry of, ask, interrogate.
τις  a  certain 
Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: τὶς  
Sense: a certain, a certain one.
ἄρχων  ruler 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἄρχων  
Sense: a ruler, commander, chief, leader.
λέγων  saying 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: λέγω 
Sense: to say, to speak.
Διδάσκαλε  Teacher 
Parse: Noun, Vocative Masculine Singular
Root: διδάσκαλος  
Sense: a teacher. 2 in the NT one who teaches concerning the things of God, and the duties of man.
ἀγαθέ  good 
Parse: Adjective, Vocative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀγαθός 
Sense: of good constitution or nature.
ποιήσας  having  done 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ποιέω  
Sense: to make.
ζωὴν  life 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ζωή  
Sense: life.
αἰώνιον  eternal 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: αἰώνιος  
Sense: without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be.
κληρονομήσω  will  I  inherit 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: κληρονομέω  
Sense: to receive a lot, receive by lot.