Luke Chapter 10 verse 42 Holy Bible

Luke 10 : 42 Bible Verse Songs

• Head to The Heart - No Shame by United Pursuit
• First - I Wanna Seek You - Keep You First by Lauren Daigle
• The Beautiful Things We Miss by Matthew West
• I'd Rather Have Jesus by Jim Reeves
• When it Has All Been Said and Done by Don Moen
• All That Matters by Minister GUC
• Holding Things Close by Ponder, Sykes & Wright
• Sitting At The Feet Of Jesus by Gaither Vocal Band
• The One Thing by New Creation Church
• I've Got Jesus by Jimmy D Psalmist + Olubunmi
• One Thing is Needed by Boyce Worship Collective

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 42. - But one thing is needful. Jesus had been saying to this kindly but over-fussy friend, "Are you not too anxious about these household cares of yours?" and then he adds, "See, only one thing is really needful." Now, what is the exact meaning of these last words? Some expositors have taken the expression to mean "a single dish is sufficient" for my entertainment; so much careful, anxious thought is thrown away. A curious variation in the reading occurs here in some, though not in all the oldest, authorities. It seems as though some of the early copyists of the text of the Gospel were wishful to make the words, which they possibly understood as a lesson of the Master's on simplicity of food, clearer and more emphatic. This other reading is, "There is need of few things, or of one only." In other words, "Few things are enough for me and my friends to sit down to, or even one dish only." The teaching contained in ver. 7 gives a little colour to this quaint interpretation of the Master's words here, which sees in them a general warning against taking thought for the pleasures of the table. But, on the whole, the old reading contained in the received text is preferable, and the old interpretation, too, viz. that the true life of man needs but one thing, or, if the other reading be adopted, needs but few things. If we must specify the one, we would call it" love," or "charity." So John, we know, in his old days, summed up all man's duties in this "love." If, on the other hand, we are asked to name the few, then we would add to love, faith and hope. The parable of the "good Samaritan," that practical lesson of the love or charity the Master was alluding to, had just been spoken; it was Still, we may reverently assume, fresh in the Divine Teacher's mind. And Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. And Mary, his dear Bethany friend, had made her happy choice of the one thing, that love or charity which never fails; or, perchance, had made her choice of the few things needful (if we prefer the longer reading of those old manuscripts we have spoken of) - the few things would then mean that faith, hope, and charity which abide both now and in the ages of ages yet to come!

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(42) But one thing is needful.--Some of the better MSS. present a singular various-reading, There is need of few things, or of one only. It is obvious that this might be taken either literally or spiritually. They might mean (1) that He who spoke, and the others who were coming, needed not the many things about which Martha was troubled, but a few only, or even but a single dish, to supply their wants; or (2) that the true life of men needed but a few things, such as faith, obedience, the fear of God, or even but one only, the devout and intent love which Mary was then showing. The latter interpretation is clearly most in harmony with our Lord's usual teaching, though the former has something like a parallel in the teaching of Luke 10:7 of this very chapter. It is not improbable that our Lord designedly used words which had an outer and an inner meaning, the latter intended chiefly for those who "had ears to hear." There is a singular coincidence between the words here spoken to Martha and those addressed to the young ruler ("one thing thou lackest"), whom we have seen reason to identify with her brother. (See Note on Matthew 19:16.) The omission of "few things" in the received text, may have originated in the wish to give an exclusive prominence to the higher meaning.Mary hath chosen that good part.--The Greek noun is very nearly the same as that which the younger son, in Luke 15:12, uses for "the portion of goods," the good part or portion here being nothing less than the eternal life which is the gift of God. Here too we may trace something approaching to a half-playful mingling of the higher and lower meanings of the word which was used in the Greek version of the Old Testament at once for Benjamin's mess, i.e., portion of food (Genesis 43:34), and for God as the "portion" of His people (Psalm 73:26). Even on the assumption that our Lord spoke in Aramaic, and not in Greek, a like play upon the word would have been equally possible. . . .