9:23 Then 1 he said to them all, 2 “If anyone wants to become my follower, 3 he must deny 4 himself, take up his cross daily, 5 and follow me.
23:26 As 6 they led him away, they seized Simon of Cyrene, 7 who was coming in from the country. 8 They placed the cross on his back and made him carry it behind Jesus. 9
1 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
2 sn Here them all could be limited to the disciples, since Jesus was alone with them in v. 18. It could also be that by this time the crowd had followed and found him, and he addressed them, or this could be construed as a separate occasion from the discussion with the disciples in 9:18-22. The cost of discipleship is something Jesus was willing to tell both insiders and outsiders about. The rejection he felt would also fall on his followers.
3 tn Grk “to come after me.”
4 tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.
5 sn Only Luke mentions taking up one’s cross daily. To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.
6 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
7 sn Jesus was beaten severely with a whip before this (the prelude to crucifixion, known to the Romans as verberatio, mentioned in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1), so he would have been weak from trauma and loss of blood. Apparently he was unable to bear the cross himself, so Simon was conscripted to help. Cyrene was located in North Africa where Tripoli is today. Nothing more is known about this Simon. Mark 15:21 names him as father of two people apparently known to Mark’s audience.
8 tn Or perhaps, “was coming in from his field” outside the city (BDAG 15-16 s.v. ἀγρός 1).
9 tn Grk “they placed the cross on him to carry behind Jesus.”