Matthew 16:26
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →Context
Spoken after the call to self-denial, this verse uses commercial language of profit and exchange to weigh the soul against all worldly gain.
What Does Matthew 16:26 Mean?
Jesus presses a piercing question: what good is it to gain everything the world offers if you lose your own soul in the process? The verse follows His teaching that whoever loses his life for His sake will find it, and it puts the stakes in terms of profit and loss, the language of the marketplace. Even the greatest imaginable acquisition -- "the whole world" -- cannot balance the loss of the soul, the eternal self. The second question drives the point home: once the soul is lost, there is nothing valuable enough to buy it back. No exchange can be made. This exposes the folly of pouring a whole life into pursuits that cannot last while neglecting what endures forever. Jesus is not condemning all earthly things, but reordering their worth. The soul is of incomparable value, and to trade it away for passing gain is the worst bargain a person can make. The verse calls every hearer to weigh life's pursuits honestly and to invest not in what perishes but in what abides into eternity.
In the Original Language
The Greek psyche means "soul" or "life," the enduring self, and antallagma means a price paid in exchange or ransom.
Cross References
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
- Mark 8:36
“None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:”
- Psalm 49:7
“But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”
- Luke 12:20
Application
Weigh your life's pursuits against the lasting worth of your soul, and invest yourself in what endures rather than what merely perishes.