Mark 8:37 Meaning and Explanation
“Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The companion question: once the soul is forfeited, what price could ever buy it back?
What Does Mark 8:37 Mean?
The second question presses the first to its conclusion. The word for exchange is a commercial term — the sum handed over in a trade. Jesus asks what payment a man could possibly produce to repurchase his own soul once it has been lost.
The expected answer is silence: nothing a person owns is valuable enough to redeem what a person is. Every fortune fails at exactly this counter. But the question no man can answer, the gospel answers: what we could never pay, Christ pays, giving his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). The soul that cannot buy itself back can still be bought back by its Redeemer.
Mark 8:37 in the Original Language
antallagma (ἀντάλλαγμα), 'exchange' -- the price given in a trade.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mark 8:37
What does Mark 8:37 mean?
The companion question: once the soul is forfeited, what price could ever buy it back?