εἷς προσελθών. ‘Came one running, and kneeled to him’ (Mark). ‘A certain ruler,’ i.e. one of the rulers of the synagogue, like Jairus. The ‘decemvirate’ (see ch. Matthew 4:23) of the synagogue were chosen from ‘men of leisure’ (Hebr. Batlanin, cp. the same thought in Greek σχολή, from which ultimately through Lat. schola comes Eng. scholar), who were free from the necessity of labour, and could devote themselves to the duties of the synagogue, and to study; of these the first three were called ‘Rulers of the Synagogue.’

τί�.τ.λ. In Mark, τί ποιήσω ἵνα ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω; in Luke, τί ποιήσας ζ. αἰ. κληρονομήσω; In this question, ‘what shall I do?’ the ruler touches the central error of the Pharisaic system—that goodness consisted in exact conformity to certain external rules of conduct. Jesus shews that it is not by doing anything whatever that a man can inherit eternal life, but by being something; not by observing Pharisaic rules, but by being childlike.

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Old Testament