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ὃς γὰρ ἂν θέλῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ σῶσαι ἀπολέσει αὐτήν· ὃς δ᾽ ἂν ἀπολέσῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ οὗτος σώσει αὐτήν.
24For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.
The Greek that is translated as “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as “he who sees himself as a goal will miss himself. But those who give themselves up for me can find themselves.”
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”
In San Blas Kuna it is rendered as “help the heart,” in Laka, it is “take by the hand” in the meaning of “rescue” or “deliver,” in Huautla Mazatec the back-translation of the employed term is “lift out on behalf of,” in Anuak, it is “have life because of,” in Central Mazahua “be healed in the heart,” in Baoulé “save one’s head” (meaning to rescue a person in the fullest sense), in Guerrero Amuzgo “come out well,” in Northwestern Dinka “be helped as to his breath” (or “life”) (source: Bratcher / Nida), in Matumbi as “rescue (from danger)” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext), and in Noongar barrang-ngandabat or “hold life” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In South Bolivian Quechua it is “make to escape” and in Highland Puebla Nahuatl, it is “cause people to come out with the aid of the hand.” (Source: Nida 1947, p. 222.)
See also salvation and save (Japanese honorifics).
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 9:24:
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also pronoun for “God”.
Exegesis:
Again it may suffice to refer to Mark 8.35, and to notice the differences between Mark and Luke: (1) Since Luke uses psuchē only in this verse and not in v. 25 = Mk. 8.36, and Mk. 8.37 has no counterpart in Luke, the interplay between psuchē as natural life and as spiritual life is less prominent in Luke. V. 24 is rather dominated by the interplay between sōsai ‘to preserve,’ ‘to keep from danger and death,’ and sōsei ‘he will save,’ in the theological sense. (2) Luke omits kai tou euaggeliou ‘and of the gospel’ and in the next clause inserts houtos, which takes up emphatically the relative pronoun hos. (3) Luke has apolesē (aorist subjunctive) instead of apolesei (future indicative). This is more correct from the point of view of Greek grammar but does not change the meaning.
Translation:
The stylistic pattern is as follows: the first sentence has two contrasting clauses, the second one has the same pair in reversed order, with a qualifying phrase inserted; the first verb of either pair is used in its literal, the second in a figurative meaning.
Whoever …, or, ‘everyone who…,’ ‘all those who…,’ may better be rendered by an ‘if-’ or ‘when-’ clause, ‘if anyone (or, a person)…, he…,’ similarly in vv. 26, 48; 14.27, 33; 17.33; 18.17, etc., and in 10.16 for “he who…”.
For save see also on 1.47.
Life. In some languages the use of the word for ‘life,’ or such equivalents as ‘soul,’ ‘breath,’ would restrict the meaning to life as a function of the body only; hence shifts to ‘himself,’ ‘his own person’ (cf. also v. 25, where heauton ‘himself’ is virtually interchangeable with ‘his life’). This may result in such renderings of the verse as, “whoever wants to take care of himself will lose himself, but whoever … loses himself is saving himself”.
For my sake, or, ‘for the benefit of me,’ ‘in my behalf,’ ‘to help me.’
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
9:24a
For: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces a reason or explanation for what Jesus said in 9:23. In some languages an explicit connecting word or phrase may not be needed. Show this connection in a way that is natural in your language.
whoever wants to save his life will lose it: In this part of the verse the word life and the pronoun it refer to two different meanings of “life.” The word life refers to a person’s own way of life in this world. The pronoun it refers to a person’s true life with God.
whoever wants to save his life: The phrase whoever wants to save his life refers to a person who is not willing to deny himself and suffer for Jesus (9:23). Instead, he wants to save or preserve his own way of life. See save, Meaning 1, in the Glossary. Some ways to translate this are:
whoever wants to protect his own life
-or-
if you want to guard your life on this earth
his life: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as life is literally “soul.” It refers to a person’s inner being or true self, as well as his physical life.
will lose it: The phrase lose it refers to losing true life, that is, life with God that lasts forever. The person will fail to experience that life either here on earth or in heaven after he dies. He will eventually lose his physical life because no one can live forever. He will also lose the opportunity to gain true life with God.
In some languages, a literal translation of “lose” may imply that a person misplaces something and is unable to find it. It may also imply that a person who already has eternal life will lose it. Be careful to avoid both these implications. Some ways to express the correct meaning are:
will forfeit true life
-or-
will lose the opportunity to gain eternal life
-or-
will not gain life with God
9:24b
whoever loses his life for My sake: The phrase whoever loses his life for My sake refers to anyone who renounces or gives up his right to follow his own way of life in order to follow Jesus. It also includes anyone who dies or is killed for Jesus.
for My sake: The phrase for My sake gives the reason for which a disciple must be willing to give up his own life. He must renounce his own way of life because of his faith in Christ and his desire to obey Christ. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
because you believe in me
-or-
on account of his loyalty to me
-or-
because of his following/serving me
Be careful not to translate the phrase for My sake in the sense of “for my benefit” or “in my place.” That is often the correct meaning in the context of Christ dying for us. It is not correct in the context of a disciple giving up his life for Christ.
will save it: The pronoun it refers to a person’s eternal life with God. The person who gives up his earthly life for Jesus will save himself from spiritual death. He will gain true life with God in this world and in heaven. Some other ways to translate will save it are:
will find true life (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
will gain/experience life that is forever
-or-
will have true life (New Century Version)
See save, Meaning 2, in the Glossary.
General Comment on 9:24a–b
In some languages it may be unnatural or impossible to translate “life” as a noun here. It also may not be natural to refer to it as something that can be lost or kept. Here is an example of how to translate “life” as a verb:
For whoever is determined to keep on living his own way will never truly live. But whoever is willing to stop living for himself in order to devote himself to me will be able to live with God eternally/forever.
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