Suffer the Little Children

The words

Mark 10:1–16; Luke 18:15–17; Matthew 19:13–15 (opens a new tab)

1. Arms

   Mark ends the scene with Jesus taking the children into his arms, placing his hands on them and blessing them. That welcome follows his instruction that the disciples must not prevent their coming.

   Mark 10:14–16 (opens a new tab)

2. Brought

   In Mark, people bring young children so that Jesus might touch them, but the disciples rebuke those bringing them. Jesus’s response reverses that obstruction and leads to the blessing of the children.

   Mark 10:13–16 (opens a new tab)

3. Displeased

   Mark says Jesus is much displeased when he sees the disciples turning away those bringing children. He then tells the disciples to allow the children to come and not to forbid them.

   Mark 10:13–14 (opens a new tab)

4. Enter

   Jesus links entering the kingdom with receiving it as a little child. In Mark, the saying comes between his command to welcome the children and his taking them into his arms to bless them.

   Mark 10:14–16 (opens a new tab)

5. Forbid

   Jesus tells the disciples not to prevent the children from coming to him. In Mark, this answers their rebuke of those bringing children; Luke likewise places the command after the disciples’ intervention.

   Mark 10:13–14; Luke 18:15–16 (opens a new tab)

6. Infants

   Babies or very young children.

   Luke specifically says infants are among those being brought for Jesus to touch. After the disciples intervene, Jesus calls the children to him and tells the disciples not to prevent their coming.

   Luke 18:15–16 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 18:15–17 (opens a new tab)

7. Kingdom of God

   Mark and Luke place this phrase in Jesus’s explanation for welcoming the children. He says the kingdom belongs to such as these, then speaks of receiving it as a little child.

   Did you know?

   Matthew’s parallel uses “kingdom of heaven,” where Mark and Luke say “kingdom of God.” Each account connects that saying with Jesus’s welcome to the children.

   Mark 10:14–15; Luke 18:16–17; Matthew 19:14 (opens a new tab)

8. Rebuked

   In Mark’s KJV account, the disciples rebuke the people bringing children for Jesus to touch. Jesus objects to that interruption and tells them to let the children come, before receiving and blessing them.

   Mark 10:13–16 (opens a new tab)

9. Receive

   Jesus uses receiving the kingdom as a little child as the comparison in his saying about entering it. Mark places those words alongside the children’s actual welcome and blessing in the scene.

   Mark 10:14–16 (opens a new tab)

10. Suffer

    Allow or permit.

    Jesus’s command allows the children to come, answering the disciples’ attempt to stop those bringing them. The NET renders the invitation with let, matching the older sense explained in the printed note.

    Mark 10:13–14 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 10:13–16 (opens a new tab)

11. Therein

    Into the kingdom of God.

    Therein points back to the kingdom of God in Jesus’s saying. In Mark, it completes the warning that someone who does not receive the kingdom as a little child will not enter it.

    Mark 10:15 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 10:13–16 (opens a new tab)

12. Touch

    Those bringing children in Mark want Jesus to touch them; Luke includes infants in that request. Mark’s closing verse describes the welcome through Jesus’s arms, the laying on of his hands and his blessing.

    Mark 10:13, 16; Luke 18:15 (opens a new tab)

13. Verily

    Truly; introducing a solemn statement.

    Verily introduces Jesus’s solemn saying about receiving the kingdom as a little child. In Mark, it follows his instruction to let the children come and precedes his taking them into his arms.

    Mark 10:14–16 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 10:13–16 (opens a new tab)

14. Whosoever

    Whoever; anyone who.

    Whosoever makes the saying apply to anyone who does not receive the kingdom as a little child. Jesus speaks these words after telling the disciples to allow the children to come to him.

    Mark 10:14–15 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 10:13–16 (opens a new tab)

15. Young Children

    Young children are brought to Jesus at the beginning of Mark’s scene. Although the disciples rebuke those bringing them, Jesus invites the children to come and ends by taking them into his arms and blessing them.

    Mark 10:13–16 (opens a new tab)