Markus 8:35-37

8:35 For whoever wants to save his life ¹  will lose it, ²  but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it. 8:36 For what benefit is it for a person ³  to gain the whole world, yet ⁴  forfeit his life? 8:37 What can a person give in exchange for his life?

Markus 10:28-30

10:28 Peter began to speak to him, “Look, ⁵  we have left everything to follow you!” ⁶  10:29 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, ⁷  there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel 10:30 who will not receive in this age ⁸  a hundred times as much – homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with persecutions ⁹  – and in the age to come, eternal life. ¹⁰ 

[8:35]  ¹ tn Or “soul” (throughout vv. 35-37).

[8:35]  ² sn The point of the saying whoever wants to save his life will lose it is that if one comes to Jesus then rejection by many will certainly follow. If self-protection is a key motivation, then one will not respond to Jesus and will not be saved. One who is willing to risk rejection will respond and find true life.

[8:36]  ³ tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[8:36]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[10:28]  ⁵ sn Peter wants reassurance that the disciples’ response and sacrifice has been noticed.

[10:28]  ⁶ tn Grk “We have left everything and followed you.” Koine Greek often used paratactic structure when hypotactic was implied.

[10:29]  ⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[10:30]  ⁸ tn Grk “this time” (καιρός, kairos), but for stylistic reasons this has been translated “this age” here.

[10:30]  ⁹ tn Grk “with persecutions.” The “all” has been supplied to clarify that the prepositional phrase belongs not just to the “fields.”

[10:30]  ¹⁰ sn Note that Mark (see also Matt 19:29; Luke 10:25, 18:30) portrays eternal life as something one receives in the age to come, unlike John, who emphasizes the possibility of receiving eternal life in the present (John 5:24).