The Greek word psuchè found in Matthew 10:39 can be rendered as "life,” as the ESV does, or as soul,
as Young’s Literal Translation does. The word refers to the soul that makes a body alive, but such life can only endure if it is found in Christ and is given up for Christ.
The Greek word psuchè found in Matthew 10:39 can be translated either as "life,” as the ESV does, or as soul,
as Young’s Literal Translation does. The word refers to the presence of the soul: that is, that which animates the body and transforms it into a living organism. The word here therefore refers to life that is both true and genuine, or the kind of life that someone regards as such.1
The earthly life cannot exist in and of itself. Those who have once radically—that is, for Christ’s sake—renounced earthly life, not knowing what will become of it but leaving that to the path Jesus requires him to walk, that person will find the life he thought he had but in fact did not yet possess: a solid, enduring, eternal, and true life.2
39 Celui qui conservera sa vie la perdra, et celui qui perdra sa vie à cause de moi la retrouvera.