8:36a–b

In Greek, this verse begins with the same conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “For” in 8:35a. See the note there. Also see the note on Paragraph 8:34–9:1. Here in 8:36a, the conjunction introduces another reason why a person should deny himself and be ready to die as a disciple. The reason is that it is useless for a person to gain everything in this world and then forfeit eternal life with God.

Some English versions indicate this connection by using the word “For” (as in the Revised Standard Version).

Here is another way to indicate this connection:

Here is another reason

Connect this verse to 8:35 in a natural way in your language. In some languages a connector may not be needed.

What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?: This is a rhetorical question. Jesus asked this question to emphasize something that everyone should know to be true: It is worth nothing for someone to gain the whole world if they forfeit their true life with God. There are at least two ways to translate this:

• As a rhetorical question. For example, the Revised English Bible says:

What does anyone gain by winning the whole world at the cost of his life?

• As a statement. For example, the New Century Version says:

It is worth nothing for them to have the whole world if they lose their souls.

Use whichever form is most natural in your language to emphasize the recognized fact that Jesus was teaching here.

What does it profit: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as does it profit means “benefit, help, be of use to.” The expected answer to the question is “there will be no profit.”

to gain the whole world: The phrase to gain the whole world literally means to own the world and everything in it. This is a hyperbole. It refers to being very successful in earning money and obtaining material goods.

Here are some other ways to translate gain the whole world:

win the whole world (Good News Bible)
-or-
own the whole world (Contemporary English Version)

This figure of speech emphasizes that even the whole world is worthless compared to the worth of a person’s soul. If a literal translation gives a wrong meaning in your language, you may need to express the emphasis in another way. For example:

obtain immense riches
-or-
be the wealthiest person in the world

forfeit his soul: In this context the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as forfeit his soul means to fail to obtain eternal life with God.

soul: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as soul refers to the same thing as the word “it” in 8:35a and 8:35b. The word soul refers here to eternal life or true life with God.

© 2008 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.