the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular feminine
in
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Luke 18:17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.
John 3:3-6 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Mark 10:13-16
It is looked upon as the indication of a kind and tender disposition to take notice of little children, and this was remarkable in our Lord Jesus, which is an encouragement not only to little children to apply themselves to Christ when they are very young, but to grown people, who are conscious to themselves of weakness and childishness, and of being, through manifold infirmities, helpless and useless, like little children. Here we have,
I. Little children brought to Christ, Mar 10:13. Their parents, or whoever they were that had the nursing of them, brought them to him, that he should touch them, in token of his commanding and conferring a blessing on them. It doth not appear that they need…
And they brought young children - See on Mat 19:13-15 (note).
John Gill on Mark 10:15
Verily I say, unto you,.... A form of speech used when our Lord was about to asseverate a thing, and assert something of moment and importance, and which he would have attended to.
Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God; the Gospel, and the mysteries of it:
as a little child; laying aside all pride and prejudice, attending thereunto with humility and meekness:
he shall not enter therein; he shall attain to no true spiritual knowledge of the Gospel; nor should he be admitted into a Gospel church state, and to the ordinances of it.
John Calvin on Mark 10:13-16
Mark 10:13-16
Matthew 19:13-15
Mark 10:13-16
Luke 18:15-17
13. Then were presented to him children, that he might lay hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked them. 14. And Jesus said to them, Suffer children, and forbid them not, to come to me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15. And when he had laid hands on them, he departed thence.
13. And they brought to him children, that he might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who presented them. 14. And when Jesus saw it, he was displeased, and said to them, Suffer children to come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15. Verily I say to you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of G…
The Church Fathers
And again, "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God like a child"—with uprightness of heart and simplicity—"shall not enter therein."
(ubi sup.) That is, if ye have not innocence and purity of mind like that of children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Or else, we are ordered to receive the kingdom of God, that is, the doctrine of the Gospel, as a little child, because as a child, when he is taught, does not contradict his teachers, nor put together reasonings and words against them, but receives with faith what they teach, and obeys them with awe, so we also are to receive the word of the Lord with simple obedience, and without any gainsaying. It goes on: And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
Amen, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. As a child does not persist in anger, does not remember harm done, does not delight in seeing a beautiful woman, does not think one thing and speak another; so you, unless you have such innocence and purity of mind, cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Otherwise, we are commanded to receive the kingdom of God, that is, the teaching of the Gospel, like little children, because as a child does not contradict his teachers in learning, nor constructs arguments and words against them resisting, but faithfully receives what is taught, and with fear obeys and is quiet; so we too in obeying must simply and without any objection act according to the words of the Lord.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Child — This word has considerable latitude of meaning in Scripture. Thus Joseph is called a child at the time when he was probably about sixteen years of age (Gen. 37:3); and Benjamin is so called when he…
Babes · A symbol of the children of the kingdom of heaven — A symbol of the children of the kingdom of heaven
Children · Should be: Brought to Christ — Should be: Brought to Christ
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Mark does not explain what characteristics of children make them fit for the Kingdom of God; Matthew 18:4-5 suggests that the attributes include humility and the ability to receive things simply.
