Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 10:19

"Thou knowest the commandments, Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor thy father and mother." — Mark 10:19 (ASV)

Jesus answered by giving the man a condensed summary of the second section of the law (cf. Exodus 20:12–17). It was a firm Jewish belief, based on OT teaching, that anyone who kept the law would live . So Jesus began there.

The young man answered confidently. From boyhood (probably age thirteen) he had kept all the commandments Jesus cited. At that age a Jewish boy became responsible to live by God’s commands. The man spoke sincerely because to him keeping the law was a matter of external conformity (cf. Php 3:6). That the law required an inner obedience, which no one can comply with, apparently escaped him.