Hardly

Matthew 19:23 - And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly I say to you, a rich man will hardly (or with difficulty) enter into the kingdom of heaven."

This verse gives a little more context to some of the things I wrote in my last post: riches being immoral and unethical because historically people get rich by keeping others down. All riches gotten this way are immoral and unethical, whether one knows it or not. White privilege, structural racism, misogyny, classism, ablelism all contribute (in America) to the rich getting richer and keeping others out. It is immoral to be rich when so many of one's fellow countrypeople are poor. (I have a separate rant about owning more than one house while there are homeless people living on the streets.)

All this is a hint about why it is difficult - or hardly happens. I think it's worth exploring the word "hardly" here. I've never seen this verse translated that way, yet Bibleworks has it listed. Its use really sharpens Jesus' point. Does it mean it hardly ever happens, as in rarely? or hardly will happen, as in never? The latter is definitely more punchy and both are much more drastic than the way this verse is translated. Will a rich man get to heave? Hardly. i.e. not gonna happen as opposed to just being extra difficult. Jesus says it's not possible - for us anyway.

This translation also helps us understand the disciples' reaction to this statement, which we'll look at in a bit.
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