Mark 10:16 AV
And he took them up in his arms¹,
put his hands upon them,
and blessed them.
¹) Greek: ἐναγκαλίζομαι (enagkalizomai) – To take into one’s arms, embrace.
Other translations
And He took them [the children up one by one] in His arms and [fervently invoked a] blessing, placing His hands upon them. [AMP] And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. [ESV] Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them. [MSB] And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. [KJV] And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. [NIV] Then he took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. [NLT] And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them. [NKJV]
Some further information
And he took them up in his arms
The Syriac version says “Upon his arms”;
The Ethiopic version says “He put them into His bosom”;
and the Persic renders it, “He took them into His bosom”.
All give an expression of great tenderness towards them, and affection for them.
Put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
The Ethiopic version transposes these clauses, and puts blessing first, contrary to the natural order of the words, and things; for He first put his hands on the children, according to the custom of the Jews, and then prayed over them, and wished all happiness and prosperity to them.
In Hebrew custom, a father’s act. (Cf) Genesis 27:38
“He had no children that He might adopt all children.” –Bengel.
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The lesson that Jesus teaches His disciples about the Kingdom makes Him not forget the children who surround Him.
He embraces them (Mark 9:36, ἐναγκαλίζομαι – enagkalizomai: to embrace, or also: to take in the arms) and with the laying on of hands (cf. Mark 10:13; 5:23) speaks His blessing on their young lives.
Thus, these children come into the sphere of influence of the Kingdom at an early age and Jesus allows them to share in its blessings.
Jesus himself as a baby was also taken in the arms by Simeon (Luke 2:28).
Now let us reflect on this
And having laid His hands on them,
He blessed them. (Mark 10:16)
This is a well-known text because it is used in the baptismal form.
That can be a disadvantage, because we can become so used to well-known texts that they no longer appeal to us.
But that should not happen to this text. For here we find the Savior with the little ones before Him, even embracing them, and blessing He puts His hands on them.
They are blessed by the Christ, and then THEY ARE BLESSED.
The disciples did not like to bring children to the Lord.
What could those little children, just picked up from the street, understand of His teaching? They themselves had sometimes difficulties to understand.
But behold, now the disciples, who thought of themselves to be important (they spoke recently about which of them would be the most important), are being rebuked and exhorted not to prevent the children from coming to Him. For just for such is the Kingdom of heaven.
Besides, we don’t need to understand to receive a blessing.
He blesses with love, with joy, with forgiveness, with light and true life.
It has really been something to those children, having been so close to His heart, so close to His eyes. They probably never forgot it, because when Jesus blesses, it is not a wish, but an act.
Then He gives what He says.
Then THEY ARE BLESSED!
Twitter: @SchoemakerHarry
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