9:25
This verse is a rhetorical question. Jesus used this question to emphasize that it is not at all valuable to gain the whole world but lose the opportunity to live forever with God. There are several ways to translate this:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
What does anyone gain by winning the whole world at the cost of destroying himself? (Revised English Bible)
• As a question with the answer supplied. For example:
Will you gain anything if you win the whole world but are yourself lost or defeated? Of course not! (Good News Translation)
• As a statement. For example:
It is worth nothing for them to have the whole world if they themselves are destroyed or lost. (New Century Version)
Use whichever form is most natural in your language to emphasize what Jesus was teaching here.
9:25a
What does it profit: The phrase What does it profit is asking about the worth or value of something. You could also translate this as:
What use is it…?
-or-
What benefit/value is it…?
a man: In this context the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as man refers to anyone, male or female.
gain the whole world: The phrase 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.
Some other ways to translate gain the whole world are:
win the whole world (Good News Translation)
-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
9:25b
lose or forfeit his very self: The phrase lose or forfeit his very self refers to not only dying but also losing the opportunity to experience true life with God.
lose or forfeit: In this context the Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as lose or forfeit mean “to fail to obtain something.” These two words have the same meaning in this context. So in some languages it may be more natural to use one word to translate this meaning.
his very self: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as his very self is literally “himself.” It means the same thing as “his life/soul” in 9:24. This refers to a person’s real self, the part of a person that never dies.
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