Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, July 26th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Updated Bible Version

Matthew 19:11

But he said to them, Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Celibacy;   Divorce;   Jesus, the Christ;   Scofield Reference Index - Kingdom;   The Topic Concordance - Eunuchs;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Divorce;   Homosexuality;   Marriage;   Woman;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Hutchinsonians;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Essenes;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Marriage;   Matthew, the Gospel of;   Woman;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Corinthians, First Epistle to the;   Text of the New Testament;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Abstinence;   Celibacy (2);   Discourse;   Divorce (2);   Gospel (2);   Marriage;   Poet;   Wealth (2);   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Pharisees;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Divorce in New Testament;   Family;   Matthew, the Gospel of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Ascetics;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He responded, “Not everyone can accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given.
King James Version (1611)
But hee said vnto them, All men cannot receiue this saying, saue they to whom it is giuen.
King James Version
But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.
English Standard Version
But he said to them, "Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given.
New American Standard Bible
But He said to them, "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given.
New Century Version
Jesus answered, "Not everyone can accept this teaching, but God has made some able to accept it.
Amplified Bible
But He said to them, "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom [the capacity to receive] it has been given.
Geneva Bible (1587)
But he sayd vnto them, All men cannot receiue this thing, saue they to whom it is giuen.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
But He said to them, "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given.
Legacy Standard Bible
But He said to them, "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given.
Berean Standard Bible
"Not everyone can accept this word," He replied, "but only those to whom it has been given.
Contemporary English Version
Jesus told them, "Only those people who have been given the gift of staying single can accept this teaching.
Complete Jewish Bible
He said to them, "Not everyone grasps this teaching, only those for whom it is meant.
Darby Translation
And he said to them, All cannot receive this word, but those to whom it has been given;
Easy-to-Read Version
He answered, "This statement is true for some, but not for everyone—only for those who have been given this gift.
George Lamsa Translation
He said to them, This saying does not apply to every man, but to whom it is needed.
Good News Translation
Jesus answered, "This teaching does not apply to everyone, but only to those to whom God has given it.
Lexham English Bible
But he said to them, "Not everyone can accept this saying but those to whom it has been given.
Literal Translation
But He said to them, Not all make room for this Word, but those to whom it is given.
American Standard Version
But he said unto them, Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given.
Bible in Basic English
But he said to them, Not all men are able to take in this saying, but only those to whom it is given.
Hebrew Names Version
But he said to them, "Not all men can receive this saying, but those to whom it is given.
International Standard Version
But he said to them, "Not everyone can accept this saying, except those to whom celibacyit
">[fn] has been granted.1 Corinthians 7:2,7, 9,17;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
But he said to them, Not every man is sufficient for this doctrine, but he to whom it is given.
Murdock Translation
But he said to them: Not every one is capable of that thing, but he only to whom it is given.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
He sayde vnto them: all men can not receaue this saying, saue they to whom it is geuen.
English Revised Version
But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, but they to whom it is given.
World English Bible
But he said to them, "Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
But he said to them, All men cannot receive this saying, but they to whom it is given.
Weymouth's New Testament
"It is not every man," He replied, "who can receive this teaching, but only those on whom the grace has been bestowed.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he seide to hem, Not alle men taken this word; but to whiche it is youun.
Webster's Bible Translation
But he said to them, All [men] cannot receive this saying, save [they] to whom it is given.
New English Translation
He said to them, "Not everyone can accept this statement, except those to whom it has been given.
New King James Version
But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:
New Living Translation
"Not everyone can accept this statement," Jesus said. "Only those whom God helps.
New Life Bible
But Jesus said to them, "Not all men are able to do this, but only those to whom it has been given.
New Revised Standard
But he said to them, "Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, he, said unto them - Not all, find room for he word, save they to whom it hath been given;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Who said to them: All men take not this word, but they to whom it is given.
Revised Standard Version
But he said to them, "Not all men can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
He sayde vnto them: all me can not awaye with that sayinge save they to whom it is geve.
Young's Literal Translation
And he said to them, `All do not receive this word, but those to whom it hath been given;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But he sayde vnto them: All me can not coprehende yt sayenge, saue they to who it is geue.
Mace New Testament (1729)
but he reply'd, 'tis not everyman can live single, but only such as have the gift of continency.
THE MESSAGE
But Jesus said, "Not everyone is mature enough to live a married life. It requires a certain aptitude and grace. Marriage isn't for everyone. Some, from birth seemingly, never give marriage a thought. Others never get asked—or accepted. And some decide not to get married for kingdom reasons. But if you're capable of growing into the largeness of marriage, do it."
Simplified Cowboy Version
Jesus replied, "Not every cowboy can live up to the Boss's standards on marriage.

Contextual Overview

3 And Pharisees came to him, trying him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for every cause? 4 And he answered and said, Have you not read that he who created from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh? 6 So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don't let man separate. 7 They say to him, Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to divorce her? 8 He says to them, Moses for your hardness of heart allowed you to divorce your wives: but from the beginning it has not been so. 9 And I say to you, Whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another, commits adultery. 10 His disciples say to him, If the case of the man is so with his wife, it is not expedient to marry. 11 But he said to them, Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs, that were so born from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, that were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs, that made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

1 Corinthians 7:2, 1 Corinthians 7:7, 1 Corinthians 7:9, 1 Corinthians 7:17, 1 Corinthians 7:35

Reciprocal: 1 Corinthians 7:5 - that Satan

Cross-References

Genesis 19:28
and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and over the whole surface of the land (of the [Jordan] valley), and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.
Genesis 19:29
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.
2 Kings 6:18
And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to Yahweh, and said, Smite this people, I pray you, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
Ecclesiastes 10:15
The labor of fools wearies every one of them; for he doesn't know how to go to the city.
Isaiah 57:10
You were wearied with the length of your way; yet you didn't say, It is in vain: you found a quickening of your strength; therefore you were not faint.
Jeremiah 2:36
Why do you want to go away so much to change your course? You shall be ashamed of Egypt also, as you were ashamed of Assyria.
Acts 13:11
And now, look, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But he said unto them,.... With respect to the inference or conclusion, the disciples formed from what he had asserted:

all men cannot receive this saying; of their's, that it is not good to marry, but it is more proper and expedient to live a single life! every man, as the Syriac version renders it, is not ספק לה, "sufficient", or "fit", for this thing; everyone has not the gift of continency, and indeed very few; and therefore it is expedient for such to marry; for what the disciples said, though it might be true in part, yet not in the whole; and though the saying might be proper and pertinent enough to some persons, yet not to all, and indeed to none,

save they to whom it is given; to receive such a saying, to live unmarried with content, having the gift of chastity; for this is not of nature, but of grace: it is the gift of God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

All men cannot receive this saying - The minds of people are not prepared for this. This saying evidently means what the disciples had just said that it was good for a man not to marry. It might be good in certain circumstances - in times of persecution and trial, or for the sake of laboring in the cause of religion without the care and burden of a family. It might be good for many to live, as some of the apostles did, without marriage, but it was not given to all people, 1Co 7:1, 1 Corinthians 7:7,1 Corinthians 7:9. To be married, or unmarried, might be lawful, according to circumstances, 1 Corinthians 7:26.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 19:11. All - cannot receive this saying — A very wise answer, and well suited to the present circumstances of the disciples. Neither of the states is condemned. If thou marry, thou dost well-this is according to the order, will, and commandment of God. But if thou do not marry, (because of the present necessity, persecution, worldly embarrassments, or bodily infirmity,) thou dost better. See 1 Corinthians 7:25.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile