Mark 10:19

Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) Defraud not.—Peculiar to St. Mark. It seems as if intended to be a special application of the Tenth Commandment. One who had great possessions, gathered in the usual ways by which men gain wealth, needed to examine himself specially by that text. Were there no ill-gotten gains in his treasure? Had no wages of the reaper been kept back; no sharp bargains driven with widows or orphans or the poor?

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:17-22 This young ruler showed great earnestness. He asked what he should do now, that he might be happy for ever. Most ask for good to be had in this world; any good, Ps 4:6; he asks for good to be done in this world, in order to enjoy the greatest good in the other world. Christ encouraged this address by assisting his faith, and by directing his practice. But here is a sorrowful parting between Jesus and this young man. He asks Christ what he shall do more than he has done, to obtain eternal life; and Christ puts it to him, whether he has indeed that firm belief of, and that high value for eternal life which he seems to have. Is he willing to bear a present cross, in expectation of future crown? The young man was sorry he could not be a follower of Christ upon easier terms; that he could not lay hold on eternal life, and keep hold of his worldly possessions too. He went away grieved. See Mt 6:24, Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Defraud not - Do not take away your neighbor's property by fraud or dishonesty. To "cheat" or "defraud," supposes a covetous desire of a neighbor's property, and is usually attended with "falsehood" or "false witness" against a neighbor in obtaining it. It is thus a violation of the ninth and tenth commandments; and our Saviour very properly, therefore, "condensed the two," and expressed their substance in this - not to defraud. It is, besides, expressly forbidden in Leviticus 19:13; "Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Mr 10:17-31. The Rich Young Ruler. ( = Mt 19:16-30; Lu 18:18-30).

See on [1473]Lu 18:18-30.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ver. 19,20. That is, in that latitude to which the doctors of the Jewish church at that time expounded them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Thou knowest the commandments,.... Which God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai; these the Jews taught their children; so that this young man might reasonably be thought to know what, and how many they were, though he was ignorant of the extent and spirituality of them;

do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honour thy father and mother. In which may be observed, that the strict order in which the commandments stood is not kept; the seventh commandment, "thou shalt not commit adultery", is set before the sixth, "thou shalt not kill"; though the Arabic version places them in their order; and the fifth command, "honour thy father and thy mother", is placed last of all: but a Jew has no reason to object to this, when it is a rule with them, that (c), there is no first nor last in the law; that is, order is not strictly attended to; but sometimes, that which is first is mentioned last, and the last first. There is one precept, "defraud not", wrong no man of his property, either by force or fraud, which none of the other evangelists have. Dr. Hammond, and others, think, that it is an explanation of the tenth command, "thou shalt not covet"; signifying, that a man should be so satisfied with his own condition, as not to desire another's goods, or, by any means, seek to lessen them to enlarge his own. A certain Jew (d) objects against our Lord Jesus, that he did not mention the other precepts in Exodus 20:3, by which he seems to mean the precepts of the first table, which respect the unity of God, and his worship, which are of greater moment; to which may be replied, that our Lord does suggest the unity of the Divine Being, and his essential, infinite, and independent goodness, which are the ground and foundation of his fear and worship in the preceding verse; and besides, as Bishop Kidder observes (e), nothing is more common than to put some precepts for the whole; see Micah 6:8; yea, that Jesus may be justified from the Old Testament in this method, as from Psalm 15:1, where a question, very like this of the young man, is put; and yet in answer to it we find nothing mentioned but obedience to the second table: to which reply of the learned prelate, may be added, that Christ instances in the commandments of the second table, as being more known, and better understood by this young man; "thou knowest the commandments"; that is, the following ones he mentions: and besides the argument runs strong from the lesser to the greater, which is implied, that if the commands of the second table, which respect the neighbour, are necessary to be observed, then much more those which concern God himself; and if men fail short in keeping the lesser commands, it can hardly be thought they should be perfect in the observance of greater ones; and so consequently, and which is our Lord's drift, eternal life is never to be obtained by the works of the law.

(c) T. Bab. Yesachim, fol. 6. 2.((d) R. Jacob Aben Amram, Porta Verit. num. 1026. Apud Kidder's Demonstr. of the Messiah, par. 3. p. 50. (e) Demonstrat. ib. p. 50, 51.

Geneva Study Bible

Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, {d} Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.

(d) Neither by force nor deceit, nor any other means at all.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Mark 10:19. The commandments of the second table enumerated are expressed by subjunctives with μὴ, instead of future indicatives with οὐ. While Mt. has the supernumerary, “love thy neighbour,” Mk. has μὴ ἀποστερήαῃς, which probably has in view the humane law in Deuteronomy 24:14-15, against oppressing or withholding wages from a hired servant; a more specific form of the precept: love thy neighbour as thyself, and a most apposite reminder of duty as addressed to a wealthy man, doubtless an extensive employer of labour. It should be rung in the ears of all would-be Christians, in similar social position, in our time: defraud not, underpay not.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19. Thou knowest the commandments] The young man is referred to the Commandments of the Second Table only, and they are cited generally from Exodus 20:12-17. A striking instance of the free mode of quotation from the Old Testament even in such a case as the Ten Commandments.

Defraud not] The word thus rendered occurs in 1 Corinthians 6:7-8; 1 Corinthians 7:5; 1 Timothy 6:5; James 5:4. It means deprive none of what is theirs, and has been thought to sum up the four Commandments which precede.

Honour thy father and mother] Rendered by Wyclif “worschippe pi fadir and modir,” which illustrates the meaning of the word as used in the Marriage Service, “with my body I thee worship” = honour. St Mark places this commandment at the end.

Bengel's Gnomen

Mark 10:19. Οἶδας, thou knowest) Why dost thou ask, What shall I do?—μὴ ἀποστερήσῃς, defraud not) by covetousness, Exodus 20:17.[13] The same verb occurs, 1 Corinthians 6:8 : see note.

[13] Otherwise this command would not differ from the previous, “Do not steal.”—ED. and TRANSL.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 19. - In St. Matthew (Matthew 21:17, etc.) the record of our Lord's conversation with the young ruler is more full; and it should be read side by side with the more condensed narrative of St. Mark. It will be observed that it is upon the commandments of the second table that our Lord here lays stress. For the love of God produces the love of our neighbor; and he who loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? Mark 10:19