Genesis 25:32

25:32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?” ¹ 

Psalms 30:9

30:9 “What ²  profit is there in taking my life, ³ 

in my descending into the Pit? ⁴ 

Can the dust of the grave ⁵  praise you?

Can it declare your loyalty? ⁶ 

Jeremiah 41:8

41:8 But there were ten men among them who said ⁷  to Ishmael, “Do not kill us. For we will give you the stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey we have hidden in a field. ⁸  So he spared their lives and did not kill ⁹  them along with the rest. ¹⁰ 

Matthew 16:26

16:26 For what does it benefit a person ¹¹  if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?

Romans 6:21

6:21 So what benefit ¹²  did you then reap ¹³  from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.

[25:32]  ¹ tn Heb “And what is this to me, a birthright?”

[30:9]  ² sn The following two verses (vv. 9-10) contain the prayer (or an excerpt of the prayer) that the psalmist offered to the Lord during his crisis.

[30:9]  ³ tn Heb “What profit [is there] in my blood?” “Blood” here represents his life.

[30:9]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term שָׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 49:9; 55:24; 103:4).

[30:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “dust.” The words “of the grave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[30:9]  ⁶ tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “Of course not!”

[41:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “But there were ten men found among them and they said.” However, for the use of “were found” = “be, happened to be” see BDB 594 s.v. מָצָא 2.c and compare the usage in 41:3.

[41:8]  ⁸ tn This sentence is a good example of the elliptical nature of some of the causal connections in the Hebrew Bible. All the Hebrew says literally is “For we have hidden stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey in a field.” However, it is obvious that they are using this as their bargaining chip to prevent Ishmael and his men from killing them. For the use of “for” (כִּי, ki) for such elliptical thoughts see BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c.

[41:8]  ⁹ tn Or “So he refrained from killing them”; Heb “he refrained and did not kill them.”

[41:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the midst of their brothers/fellow countrymen.”

[16:26]  ¹¹ tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[6:21]  ¹² tn Grk “fruit.”

[6:21]  ¹³ tn Grk “have,” in a tense emphasizing their customary condition in the past.