Translation commentary on Mark 8:36

Exegesis:

ōphelei (cf. 5.26) ‘does it profit,’ ‘does it benefit.’

kerdēsai ton kosmon holon ‘to gain the whole world,’ i.e. to acquire the sum total of earthly wealth.

kerdainō (only here in Mark) ‘gain.’

kosmos (14.9; 16.15) ‘world’: here in the sense of material riches.

zēmiōthēnai tēn psuchēn autou ‘to forfeit his life,’ ‘to suffer loss of his life’: clearly the meaning is not ‘to die,’ as though physical existence were the meaning of psuchē ‘life’ in this context (cf. previous verse).

zēmioō (only here in Mark) in the passive ‘suffer loss,’ ‘forfeit,’ ‘pay the penalty of.’

Translation:

Does it profit may be rendered as ‘what advantage is there’ or ‘how is it better to.’

Gain the whole world may be ‘receive the whole world’ (Southern Subanen), ‘to come to own the whole world’ (Navajo), ‘to possess everything in the whole world’ (Tzotzil), and ‘to gain the revenues of the whole world’ (Javanese).

Forfeit his life may be ‘pay a penalty consisting of his life’ (Navajo), ‘forfeit his heart,’ in the sense of life and soul (Mitla Zapotec), or ‘lose his real life,’ in order to emphasize the use of life in the special sense of life and all its values, temporal and eternal.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 8:36

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.

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