loveth his life … hateth his life … life eternal -Life" is here used in two senses, and in the Greek two different words are used. In the first two cases -life" means the life of the individual, in the last, life in the abstract. By sacrificing life in the one sense, we may win life in the other. See notes on Matthew 10:39; Matthew 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24; Luke 17:33. A comparison of the texts will shew that most of them refer to different occasions, so that this solemn warning must have been often on His lips. The present utterance is distinct from all the rest.

shall lose it Better, loseth it; the Greek may mean destroyeth it.

hateth his life i.e. is ready to act towards it as if he hated it, if need so require. Neither here nor in Luke 14:26 must -hate" be watered down to mean -be not too fond of;" it means that and a great deal more. The word rendered -life" in -loveth his life" and -hateth his life" might also mean -soul," and some would translate it so: but would Christ have spoken of hating one's soul as the way to eternal life?

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